


Welcome to the Black Masquerade

by Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, BDSM, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Genderfluid Character, Romance, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:22:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 76,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21803647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis/pseuds/Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis
Summary: Weiss was nothing if not stubborn, she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of what she wanted. Be that overbearing fathers, scheming brothers, irritating tutors. Not even her own demise was going to stop her. Now with a new identity and living with three somewhat eccentric individuals, she should be all set. All she has to do is keep them from working out she's not exactly alive.
Relationships: Coco Adel/Velvet Scarlatina, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 282
Kudos: 429





	1. Chapter 1

Weiss was dead: to begin with. There was no doubt whatever about that. Buried in secret on the Schnee manor estate, everyone thought the heir had run away from home and all police investigations had been mysteriously quashed.

Weiss hadn’t really known what to expect on the other side, but it certainly hadn’t been a horrifically tone-deaf rendition of ‘All I Want For Christmas’ sung by her housemate and her girlfriend. Yet here she was, at a Christmas party hosted at a friend’s house and holding a beer she wished could still get her drunk.

Sighing deeply, Weiss thought back to how it had come to this, only a couple of months ago.

* * *

“ Weiss, are you sure this is a good idea?” Winter asked, looking disdainfully at the slightly run-down terraced house only a ten minute walk from the university.

“ Winter, I’ve told you before. I’m not letting something as insignificant as my own death get in the way of my education.” Weiss huffed, hauling her suitcase out of the boot of the car, straining with the exertion of trying to remain corporeal.

“ I wish you wouldn’t keep making light of your death like that.” Winter sighed, shaking her head and taking the suitcase from Weiss, leaving the younger girl with her rucksack. “We still don’t know what happened to you, why you came back, or even how.”

“ And I’ve had a year to make peace with the fact that I’ll never know.” Her younger sister replied coolly, leading the way to the door of the house. “So why not make the most of my second chance? And you said I should leave the family name behind, what better way to do so than this?”

“ I still think this is risky.” Winter muttered, following her sister to the door, which Weiss rapped on smartly. “You could have gotten a flat on your own, I would have happily paid.”

“ And I told you, you already let me crash on you couch for free all last year whilst I was getting used to this.” She waved her hand through Winter’s a few times, making the older woman shiver.

“ _ Please,  _ stop doing that, Weiss.” Winter groaned, trying to shake the numbness from out of her hand. “It’s unsettling.” Weiss just rolled her eyes. She heard the clattering of someone making their way to the door and it was flung open to reveal a short silver-eyed girl with rather poorly dip-dyed hair wearing an oversized red hoodie.

“ Oh hey! You must be Weiss! I’m Ruby!” The girl stuck out a hand, which Weiss only somewhat reluctantly took. She noted it seemed incredibly warm, then again, everything felt warm since she’d come back as some sort of ice ghost. “Wow, cold hands, huh?” Ruby commented and peered over Weiss’ shoulder at Winter. “And this is…?”

“ That’s my sister, she just gave me a lift here. She’s just about to leave.” She looked pointedly at Winter, who shook her head.

“ Not until I’ve had a chance to inspect you room.” She said primly, slipping past Weiss, though leaving plenty of room so as not to accidentally pass through her and give the game away before it had even begun.

“ But Winter...” Weiss moaned, following after her sister who was already making her way up the stairs to where Weiss’ room was located. “I’m sorry about her.” She addressed Ruby this time. “She’s a little overprotective.”

“ Oh, don’t worry about it, my big sis can be the same.” The shorter girl reassured her, smiling sunnily at Weiss as she followed after Winter through the living room and up the stairs. Her room was at the back of the small two storey house. As she reached the top of the stairs she was hit by a wave of heat rolling out from the open door in front of her.

It was almost painful, the heat eating away at her very being, and it took a lot for her to remain corporeal. Peering into the room to determine the source, she saw several space heaters all running and in the centre of them, laid out on the bed, was a tall blonde wearing nothing but a pair of very short shorts, a tank top and an infinity scarf. She seemed to be asleep, so Weiss quickly moved on and away from the stifling heat. She really hoped that girl paid extra into the bills given the number of heaters she was running.

Following the narrow corridor round the corner and past another room she came upon her sister in the last room at the back, poking around the bed.

“ Is the room to your satisfaction, sister?” Weiss snarked, setting her rucksack down on the desk.

“ It’s rather cold in here.” Winter mused, pressing a hand to the radiator and finding it to be wanting.

“ Isn’t that exactly what I need now?” The younger sister pointed out, checking inside the wardrobe and finding it adequate. Not that she exactly needed changes of clothes, what with her ghostly apparel, but it was good for appearances.

“ I still say you should have let me check the place before you signed the lease, and let me run background checks on these new housemates of yours.”

“ Winter, no. No using secret military intelligence software to do background checks on a bunch of university students.” Weiss whirled on her sister and stuck a warning finger in her face.

“ Uhhhh, what was that about background checks?” A nervous voice chuckled from the doorway and the two sisters swivelled to see Ruby hovering anxiously just outside.

“ Just an in-joke with my sister.” Weiss brushed off, trying to guide Winter out of the room. “Well, thank you, Winter, for helping me with my stuff, you assistance is no longer required.” Pushing with more force than she used to need, Weiss guided her sister out of the room, past the furnace at the top of the stairs and down to the front door. As she stepped out onto the short path leading to the door, Winter turned to give Weiss a sad smile.

“ Well, good luck, Weiss. I hope things go well for you.” Weiss leaned out and wrapped her arms around Winter’s neck, trying to ignore her sister’s shiver at her touch.

“ I’ll see you at Christmas, Winter.” She murmured, stepping back and letting Winter try to rub some warmth back into her shoulders.

“ Goodbye.” And with that, she turned on her heel and strode out of the tiny front garden, climbing into her nondescript blue hatchback and driving away with a final wave, which was matched by Weiss.

“ So, er, do you want the grand tour now? Or I can give it later.” Ruby offered, having followed the sisters downstairs and watched as Winter drove off.

“ I suppose now is as good a time as any time.” Weiss agreed, closing the door and following Ruby into the main room of the house.

“ So this is the living room, duh. We’ve got the sofas, the dining table, the TV. Oh and don’t worry about paying for the license, Blake’s already taken care of it.” Ruby explained, gesturing to the various pieces of furniture in the room.

“ Blake, is she the one sleeping upstairs?” Weiss asked curiously. She hadn’t actually asked for pictures of her new housemates for fear of reciprocation as she’d found out fairly early on into her afterlife that something about her nature made her unable to be photographed. She also hadn’t questioned their lack of social media presence, she was hardly one to judge about that, she had barely touched the Facebook page she used to organise things with study groups.

“ Oh no, that’s my big sis Yang.” Ruby chirped happily. “Blake’s in the room next to yours, she’s out shopping right now. Ooh, before I forget, do you have any flags for the wall?”

“ Flags?”

“ Yeah, pride flags!” Ruby gestured to the far wall, opposite the TV and Weiss wasn’t sure how she’d missed the four large flags hung up there. “We’ve got the rainbow because Yang said we have to, the lesbian flag is for me, the pan flag is for Yang and the bi flag is Blakey’s” She grinned proudly as she pointed each one out whilst Weiss was taken aback by just how open her new housemates were.

“ Oh, I, uh, don’t have a flag.” Weiss lied, unwilling to share that part of her with an almost complete stranger. It was one of the small perks of being dead that she’d gained near complete control over her appearance, meaning she could finally have the long flowing locks she’d always wanted and the body she knew she was supposed to have.

“ That’s alright!” Weiss was unsure how this girl could be quite so chipper. “We’re very accepting here.” Yes, Weiss was sure they’d be accepting of a literal ghost unliving amongst them. “Anyway, the kitchen’s through here.” Ruby led the way through a door at the back of the room into a narrow corridor of a kitchen, more akin to a ship’s galley than an actual kitchen.

“Usual kitchen stuff, fridge-freezer behind you, microwave, rice cooker, hob and oven. Oh and the washing machine slash dryer is here too.” Ruby kicked the machine in question, which appeared to currently be washing a load of vibrantly yellow clothes. “We cleared some space in the fridge and freezer for you, milk and stuff are communal, but don’t touch the fish. That’s Blake’s.” Weiss opened up the fridge, sighing in pleasure as the cold washed over her, and took note of the several packs of salmon and fresh tuna, good-quality ones too.

“How does Blake afford to eat so well?” She asked idly, pulled one of the packs out to examine it.

“My parents felt so guilty after I ran away from home that they’re paying all my living expenses.” A low voice spoke from the other side of the fridge door and shocked Weiss into almost letting the fish slip through her fingers. “They send more than I really need.” Hastily replacing the packet back in the fridge, Weiss slammed the door shut to look at the newcomer.

Long dark tresses, topped with a large hair bow and wearing a plain white t-shirt and black skinny jeans, Blake regarded her new housemate with interest.

“Blake! This is Weiss!” Ruby piped up from behind Weiss, hopping on the spot to see her friend.

“So I gathered.” Blake replied coolly, setting a couple of bags of food on the counter and offering a hand to Weiss. “Blake Belladonna.”

“Weiss Raureif.” Weiss took the hand and shook it firmly although Blake withdrew her hand rather quickly, shaking it to restore some of the feeling in them.

“Cold hands.” She observed, starting to unpack various dry goods.

“Poor circulation.” Weiss deflected, silently reminding herself to try and avoid interpersonal contact as much as possible.

“Sure, you met Yang yet?”

“I think she’s sleeping. Does she always have all those heaters on like that?” Weiss had to ask, she sincerely hoped not though, otherwise just going up and down the stairs would be torture.

“Not always.” Ruby chipped in, hopping up onto the free counter and helping Blake stash her stuff in one of the cupboards. “But don’t worry, we pay extra to the bills.”

“We?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve got a few heaters in my room too. Yang and I can’t stand the cold.” Weiss couldn’t think of a time being cold had bothered her, except in fleeting memories of blue and bleeding fingers.

“I see… Well, it’s good of you to do that, some of the people I knew at my last uni were jerks who’d take advantage of things being split equally.” Weiss commented, stepping back to allow Blake access to the fridge.

“Ooh, where were you?”

“Atlas Uni up North.”

“Ooh, fancy, they’re like top in the country or something right?” Ruby asked of the room.

“They are, and they refuse to let anyone forget it.” Weiss grumbled, remembering all the posturing of the faculty.

“Why did you leave, then?” Blake asked, opening up the freezer and tossing what looked like a large bag of dumplings in.

“It didn’t really fit, so after first year I took a year out and after that, decided to come here to get a fresh start.” Weiss explained, tactfully leaving out her untimely demise and the months of limbo, floating around her sister’s apartment, unable to touch anything.

“Guess, that means you’re a fresher like me.” Ruby said, finishing up with the cupboard and hopping back down. “You attending freshers’ fest then?”

“I don’t think so, not one for parties.” Weiss said, and it was half true, she would much rather stay in and study than go out drinking, not to mention she couldn’t drink anymore. Or eat for that matter. God, it was going to be a pain having to buy groceries and dispose of them discreetly to give the impression of someone actually alive and eating.

“Why not? Uni’s subsidising it, take advantage. I know I am” A new voice broke into the conversation and Weiss looked over at the door where the sleeping blonde now leaned casually, heat rolling off her in waves.

“You’re a third year, Yang. We don’t have time to do stuff like that.” Blake pointed out, finishing with her groceries and leaning up against the fridge.

“It’s the start of the year, Blakey, loosen up a little. ‘Sides, I gotta go and look out for my lil’ sis.” The blonde reached out and ruffled Ruby’s hair affectionately before the younger girl ducked out of the way, grumbling half-heartedly. “You’re Weiss, then? I’m Yang, nice to meetcha!”

Like the other two, she stuck out her right hand to shake, and Weiss took it only somewhat reluctantly. But Yang didn’t comment on how cold her hand felt, although come to think of it, for someone who seemed to exude heat, the hand was unusually cool. Before she could think of what that meant, the handshake was broken and Yang was talking again.

“Even if you’re not going out on any of the club nights, you should at least go to the societies fair, it’s good fun.” Yang smiling winningly and Weiss was tempted to go just based on her recommendation alone.

“I came here to study, not join a society, I’m afraid.” Weiss smiled apologetically to overdramatically shocked gasps from Yang and Ruby.

“Not join any societies? The horror!” Yang fake swooned, before straightening up as Ruby stifled giggles. “In all seriousness though, you should join a society. I met pretty much all of my friends through society activities, it’s how Blakey here became my best friend.”

“I wasn’t exactly given much of a choice.” Blake deadpanned, though a glimmer of humour shone in her eyes. “She decided to adopt me when we were freshers.”

“And hasn’t your life been all the better for it?” Blake could only reluctantly nod as Ruby sidled over to Weiss

“Come on, Weiss, we could go together! I’ve got a few societies I’m thinking of joining and I wanna look at their stalls.” She wheedled, giving Weiss a puppy-eyed look that wore at her resolve. Joining a society meant more people to keep up her façade of life in front of, lectures were already going to be hard enough. But those damn eyes felt like they were boring right into her soul, which admittedly was the only bit left of her.

“Fine, I’ll go with you to the societies fair.” She groaned to cheers from Yang and Ruby.

“I promise you won’t regret it.” Yang told her as Weiss rolled her eyes.

“I’d better not.” She countered, although she knew already that it was a foregone conclusion. “I’m going to go unpack now, if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, sure, go for it.” Yang moved aside to let Weiss past, and as she squeezed through the doorway, she once again felt that strange heat emanating from Yang. People normally weren’t that hot, were they? Blake certainly wasn’t, though Ruby also did seem quite warm, maybe it was a family thing. For all Winter complained about how cold she got whenever Weiss got near her, the elder Schnee also ran cold.

Making her way up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door behind her, Weiss was finally able to release her concentration. With a great sigh of relief, her form loosened and faded into translucency. She was getting better at holding onto her corporeality for long periods of time now. Stepping off the floor and into the air, Weiss drifted over to the window and looked out over the tiny back garden and over the rows of terraced houses, almost all of which housed students.

The floating was another one of the perks of being dead, although she could never really manage more than about a foot off the ground, but it did mean she never got tired. Although being dead also took care of that somewhat. As she explored every nook and cranny of her new room, Weiss heard voices drifting up from beneath her. Her room must be over the kitchen.

She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on people, it would be no better than Winter running dubiously legal background checks on them, but she knew nothing about these people she was about to spend the next year living with. Pushing her conscience aside, she floated down to the floor and stuck her head through and out of the kitchen ceiling.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I’m sure there are other people from the Black Masquerade we could have asked.” Blake sounded mildly concerned as she talked to the other two.

“We tried! Coco and Velvs want their own place and so do Ren and Nora. I know Jaune and Pyrrha were willing, but do you really want to listen to them going at it like animals every month?” Yang shot back, with the air of someone who’d made this argument before. It didn’t surprise Weiss that she wasn’t the first choice, from the impression she’d gotten of the three and this conversation, they evidently had several friends they’d be happier with as a housemate. Although she did wonder what this ‘Black Masquerade’ was. Maybe they were in a band or something.

“No, but I can see this backfiring horribly if it goes wrong.”

“Nothing’s gonna go wrong, Blakey. She won’t suspect a thing.”

“Yang, I can feel the heat coming off you, if you keep that up she’s bound to think something’s up.” Blake hissed. Now Weiss was officially confused, what on Earth were they talking about?

“Well I like her.” Ruby declared firmly. “I think everything’s gonna work out fine!”

“Of course ya do, sis.” Yang tried to ruffle Ruby’s hair again, only for the younger to dodge out of the way leading to a small tussle between the sisters.

Deciding she’d heard enough, Weiss pulled back out of the ceiling and into her room. Scratching at her head, she lay back and floated a few inches over her bed.

“What have I gotten myself into?” She murmured to herself as she thought back over the snippet of conversation she’d listened in on. Talk of Black Masquerades and names of its apparent members whirled around her head.

Evidently, Weiss wasn’t the only one in the house with secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm trying something different with this, stepping out of my comfort zone by not having canon to hang my story off of and writing ships that I'm less familiar with. But, I hope y'all enjoy this and how unapologetically British it's going to be, the house is literally based off of the house I lived in during first year and the whole thing draws from my experiences at uni.
> 
> Side note, this won't be updating as frequently as The Wandering One as that takes priority and will be sticking to the schedule I set for myself.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading despite her occasional awful jokes.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated


	2. Chapter 2

Weiss didn’t really sleep any more. It was closer to a light doze, mostly unaware of her surroundings but not completely disconnected from them either. Not that she could slip into her fugue that evening, she was too busy mulling over her plans and her curious new housemates. She’d managed to talk her way out of having takeout with them, citing being tired from the journey as her reason, and retired to her room for the evening.

She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of them. They were all friendly and welcoming, Blake a little less so, but Ruby and Yang more than made up for that. Weiss had taken note of a few battered board games in the living room and was not looking forward to getting roped into them. She’d unpacked her meagre possessions, most of which were for show more than anything. The clothes that hung in the wardrobe were hand-me-downs from Winter to help with the illusion of life, as was the bedding.

The only items in the room that held any significance to her were the battered laptop and printer she’d set up on her desk and the polar bear stuffed toy she gave pride of place on her bed. She wasn’t sure how Winter had broken into the Schnee estate to retrieve them and she hadn’t asked. Still, it had been a joyous moment when Winter came back to the apartment one day bearing Snuffles, and Weiss had barely let him out of her sight since then.

Deciding she’d spent enough time thinking, Weiss flipped herself right side up and glanced over at the clock on her bedside table, which blinked 05:37 in the darkness. She was about to float out of her room through the door before she caught herself. She wasn’t living with her sister any more, she couldn’t just walk through the walls whenever she couldn’t be bothered to stay corporeal. Concentrating, she felt herself pull together and gravity took hold of her once more, dropping her with a soft thump onto the carpet. It had taken her nearly a month to learn how to do that and several more to learn how to hold her form without much effort.

Quietly opening the door, Weiss slipped out and tiptoed down the stairs, wincing as she stood on a particularly creaky one. The living room was deserted save for a couple of half-empty pizza boxes. The amount of meat on one of the leftover pizzas would have turned Weiss’ stomach if she could still feel nauseous. Deciding she ought to try to make a good impression, she collected up the pizzas, collating them into a single box and took it into the kitchen, where she stashed the box in the fridge. Hopefully it wouldn’t give the other food poisoning or something.

Whilst she was there, she took the opportunity to examine the contents of the fridge, hoping to glean some insight into the sorts of food students ate. She’d lived in halls during her one year at Atlas and hadn’t cooked a single meal, using the facilities around campus instead. She once tried making toast and accidentally set off the sprinkler system, and had vowed to never touch a cooking appliance again.

The contents of the fridge were something of an eclectic mix, aside from Blake’s fish, there were various packs of mince, a few vegetables that Weiss had never seen before, five different types of cheese and a whole host of jars labelled in Chinese. Closing the fridge, Weiss considered poking around the cupboards as well, but that felt like too much of an invasion of privacy.

Resolving to make up a shopping list for later, Weiss entered the bathroom at the rear of the kitchen. She’d only briefly looked into the room, this one promising to be the one she used the least, if at all. Four boxes lined the window sill, three already filled with toiletries and one left empty. Weiss added filling the box to her mental list of things to do today as she idly admired herself in the mirror. Death really did do wonders for your complexion. Before she’d died, Weiss had had a rather stubborn case of acne that refused to shift no matter how many creams she’d tried. Not to mention it was a relief not to need to shave any more.

She wasn’t quite sure why she’d stuck so close to her original appearance, she’d even kept the scar she got during a fencing match with Whitley that took her sight in that eye. Perhaps it was because there was something comforting about the familiar when everything about her had changed so drastically.

Sighing softly and brushing her fringe out of her face, Weiss left the bathroom and made her way back into the living room. It was still far too early for any of the shops to still be open, so Weiss settled herself on the sofa and flipped through the TV channels, trying to find something to fill the time. Eventually she settled on some banal morning show with a particularly vile host Weiss was sure she’d seen having lunch with her father once or twice.

Groaning, she let the mind-numbing chatter wash over her as she stared at the ceiling and once again wondered what The Black Masquerade could be. She’d dismissed her initial theory of a band after some probing yesterday had revealed that none of her housemates were musically talented. Her current working theory was that it was some sort of gang, but they didn’t give off the impression of being criminals. Ruby in particular was far too chipper and friendly to be some kind of drug dealer. Other than that, she had no idea what this Black Masquerade business could be.

“You’re up early.” A voice came from the stairs and Weiss looked up to see Yang leaned up against the door frame wearing sweats and a different tank top to the day before, and carrying a pair of trainers.

“I don’t sleep well.” It wasn’t technically a lie. “What’s your excuse?”

“I like to go for a run in the morning.” Yang shrugged, hopping down the last step and dropping herself onto the couch. “You fancy joining?” Weiss considered for a moment. She didn’t need to exercise any more, so there was little point in it for that. But she could maybe get to know Yang a little better, not to mention the winning smile she was giving her was very persuasive.

“It’ll be fun! Normally it’s just me and Pyrrha, since Nora went and joined a gym with her boyfriend.” Weiss perked up a little at the mention of this Pyrrha, that had been one of the people they’d mentioned yesterday when talking about alternative housemates. That definitely made up her mind for her.

“Sure, I’ll come. Just let me get changed.” Weiss replied and received a blindingly sunny grin in response. Leaving the TV on for Yang, Weiss hopped back up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door behind her. Once there she waited for five minutes, that was about how long she used to take to change, and then concentrated on her form.

For a moment, she drifted apart before reforming, wearing what she hoped was appropriate sportswear. She took a moment to inspect herself in the full-length mirror and was pleased with how the material clung to her curves. Satisfied, Weiss trotted back downstairs to meet Yang who was waiting by the front door.

“You sure you’re going to be warm enough in that?” She asked sceptically, eyeing up Weiss’ attire, although Weiss did notice her gaze linger on her chest.

“I’ll be fine, you’re wearing just as little.” Weiss pointed out, deliberately mimicking Yang and letting her eyes rest upon the blonde’s chest for longer than necessary, bringing a light blush to the taller girl’s cheeks.

“Okay then, if you’re sure.” Yang said, still a little flushed, opening up the door and leading the way outside. Weiss let out a breathless sigh as she stepped out into the chill morning air. The heat of the house wasn’t unbearable, but Weiss much preferred the cold in her current state. Yang was waiting at the front gate, steam billowing out as she breathed deeply, preparing for the run.

“Where do we go?” Weiss asked. She vaguely knew the area, Winter having insisted she study the maps as though it were some sort of military operation.

“First, we gotta jog over to Pyrrha and Jaune’s place, it’s not far. Then we usually do a couple of laps of the park.” Yang told her, now beginning to stretch, which Weiss hastily copied so as to avoid looking suspicious. Warm up done, Yang set off, closely followed by Weiss, jogging down the hill and towards the university.

It was a strange feeling, running but not getting tired or running out of breath, though to be fair, Weiss didn’t exactly have any breath to run out of. Before she’d died, Weiss had been notoriously unfit. She’d tried joining a gym once, but after ten minutes on a treadmill left her flat on the floor, gasping for air and swearing she would never do exercise like that again.

“You’re keeping up well, Ruby and Blake would be out of breath by now.” Yang puffed as they reached the bottom of the hill and took a left before taking another left, now heading back up the incline along a parallel road. It soon became apparent where their new destination was, as waiting outside one of the houses was a very tall redhead, wearing similar clothes to them, although she had a hoodie over the top.

“Hey, Pyrrha!” Yang called out, waving to the amazonian young woman and speeding up a little to reach her friend.

“Hello!” The redhead called out with far too much cheer for this early in the morning as the pair slowed to a halt in front of Pyrrha and Yang pulled Pyrrha into a tight hug. “Who’s this?” She asked once she broke away from the hug, tilting her head curiously at Weiss.

“Weiss, this is Pyrrha. Pyrrha, Weiss. She’s the new housemate I was telling ya about and she wanted to come with.” Yang made the introductions as Pyrrha stuck her hand out eagerly and Weiss accepted reluctantly. The girl’s grip was firm, almost too much so, and there was something… off about her, a smooth and alluring grace that didn’t quite fit with the orderly terraced houses.

“Nice to meet you.” The redhead smiled toothily, strangely not commenting on how cold Weiss’ hand was. Although Weiss did notice her nostrils flare as she released her grip, almost like she was sniffing at Weiss. Weird.

“Nice to meet you too.” The white-haired girl replied politely, shaking out her hand subtly after the firm handshake. “Shall we go then?”

“Sure!” Yang agreed, having stayed jogging lightly on the spot whilst the introductions were made, and took off, leaving Pyrrha and Weiss in her dust.

“Hey!” Weiss called in indignation, running after the blonde as she jogged up the hill. She was even more annoyed as Pyrrha breezed past her and caught up to Yang with ease. Growling, Weiss picked up the pace and eventually caught up with the pair at the top of the hill, her irritation somewhat mollified by the fact that they were both breathing heavily whilst she was perfectly fine.

“Could you maybe not just go running off and leave me behind next time?” She snarked, getting an apologetic grin from Yang.

“Sorry, I thought since you were able to keep up at the start you’d be fine.”

“Yang can get a little over-excited and ahead of herself sometimes.” Pyrrha commented fondly, jabbing Yang in the arm. “She’s a bit hotheaded.”

“Ha! Good one!” Yang snorted, shaking her head at her friend whilst Weiss blinked in confusion at what must be some sort of in-joke.

“Shall we continue?” Weiss asked, increasingly feeling like she was intruding on something.

“Oh yeah, sure!” Yang agreed, once again starting to run without any warning. Weiss was ready this time, however, and kept pace with the blonde, Pyrrha following closely behind.

“So, Weiss.” Pyrrha puffed out as she jogged alongside Weiss. “How’d you and Yang get to be housemates?”

“Oh, I took a year out after I dropped out of Atlas Uni but didn’t get any of the forms for campus accommodations done in time, so I had to look elsewhere.” Weiss answered, keeping her eyes ahead and trying to feign breathlessness.

“And that lot hadn’t found a fourth yet?” Pyrrha barked out a laugh.

“Hey, in fairness, everyone else wanted their own place with their partners.” Yang called over her shoulder.

“And Jaune and I told you we’d be happy to share the room.” Pyrrha shot back and received a snort of derision in answer.

“Pyrrha, I love you and I like Jaune. But you both know exactly why that would be a bad idea.” Pyrrha had no response other than another barking laugh, leaving Weiss perplexed. They’d mentioned yesterday something about Pyrrha and this Jaune ‘going at it like animals every month’ but Weiss had yet to work out what ‘it’ was exactly. At first she thought maybe these two had particularly bad PMS and weren’t pleasant to live with at the time, but now she wasn’t quite so sure.

“So you didn’t know Yang or the others before you moved in?” Weiss was about to answer, but Yang cut in quickly.

“Yeah, none of us knew of Weiss before she messaged about the room.” Yang’s words felt very pointed, but the hidden meaning was lost on Weiss, though not on Pyrrha, who nodded in clear understanding. The three fell silent as they continued the run, Yang and Pyrrha needed their breath and Weiss didn’t want to draw attention to her lack thereof. They passed by a few other people out early, quite a few of which were dog walkers whose pets all seemed very interested in Pyrrha for some reason.

Eventually, they completed their lap of the park and made their way back down the road to Pyrrha’s house, slowing to a gentle jog for this last leg. The three came to a halt outside the house, those who could breathe doing so heavily as Weiss mimicked them.

“That was fun.” Pyrrha huffed, pulling back her sleeve to look at a smart watch strapped to her wrist and wiping the sweat from her forehead. “I’m going to go take a shower, it was nice meeting you, Weiss.” She smiled warmly at Weiss who blushed a little at the attention. “Same time tomorrow?”

“You know it!” Yang grinned, pulling Pyrrha into a quick hug before starting away down the road with a wave as the redhead made her way to her door.

“Goodbye.” Weiss waved her farewells too and jogged after Yang.

“Hey, thanks for coming. Pyrrha’s a good friend of mine so it’s great you get along.” Yang said as they walked at a more relaxed pace back to the house.

“Thank you for inviting me.” Weiss smiled demurely. “I’ll admit I’ve never really exercised like that before.”

“Well, you did pretty well for your first time. Look at you, you’ve barely broken a sweat.” Weiss nearly cursed, she had completely forgotten that was yet another bodily function she now lacked. “So, you feel like making this a regular thing?” Yang asked, flashing a hopeful smile back at Weiss.

“I’m… afraid I can’t. I’m sorry.” Much as Weiss hated to disappoint the blonde, she couldn’t risk exposing herself.

“Oh, okay. Sure. I mean it is kinda intense if you’re new to exercising.” Weiss could tell Yang was trying to hide her disappointment and for a brief moment considered changing her mind, but she held strong.

“I am sorry, Yang.” She apologised again as they reached their house and Yang led the way inside.

“It’s fine, really.” Yang reassured her, starting towards the bathroom. “I’m just gonna take a shower now, don’t want to be all sweaty and icky for the rest of the day, do I?”

“That probably wouldn’t be ideal.” Weiss admitted, although looking at Yang, she didn’t seem to be particularly sweaty either. Smiling warmly, Yang left to take her shower whilst Weiss returned to her room. With her door closed and locked, Weiss could finally let herself drift apart and relax. The run had been fun, it was nice to spend time with Yang and meet one of her friends, even if they left her with more questions than she started with. The strange mystery of the Black Masquerade only grew more, well, mysterious. But Weiss was sure she’d get to the bottom of it soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mystery thickens as we meet another member of The Black Masquerade. Also, yay Pyrrha! I regret not writing more of her in The Wandering One, so she's going to be appearing here a lot more.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and finding me good tumblr posts.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

“Whatcha doin’ there?” Ruby’s piping voice broke Weiss’ concentration, and she looked up from the blank piece of paper she was struggling to put pen to.

“Working on my shopping list.” Much to her eternal embarrassment, Weiss had no idea what one actually bought for food,. Her pride prevented her from asking for help and the internet was being woefully unhelpful.

“But there’s nothing on it.” Ruby pointed out helpfully, plopping herself down in the seat beside Weiss.

“I haven’t started writing it yet.” The white-haired girl snapped back, a little irritably. She was now regretting her decision to do this in the living room, but the temptation of running into Yang had been too great. Ugh, it was annoying, how did she even feel desire when she didn’t have hormones or whatever any more? She’d known going into this that any sort of romantic relationship was off the table. Yet here she was, irritatingly attracted to the buxom blonde after only a single day.

“You want some help with it?” Weiss hesitated at the offer, but seeing no other options, nodded reluctantly. “Great! First, what stuff can you cook?”

“Uhhh...” Weiss was sure she’d be blushing if she was more than a disembodied soul. “I once tried to make toast?”

“Tried?” Ruby looked almost afraid of Weiss’ answer.

“I burned it so badly I ended up setting off the hall sprinkler system.” Weiss admitted, shamefacedly, remembering the berating she got from Father after the residency administration informed him.

“Oh my god, can you not cook at all, Weiss?” Ruby sounded almost horrified by the very idea.

“Don’t a lot of people not know how to cook?” Weiss said, defensively, even more embarrassed by her lack of this skill.

“Well, yeah, but that’s useless men who expect their wives to cook for them. Didn’t your mom or dad teach you?” Weiss flinched a little at the mention of her parents and Ruby started apologising hastily. “Sorry, sorry!”

“It’s fine, you didn’t know.”

“Right, so you don’t know how to cook, we can work with that. So we can either just get you a bunch of ready meals, but that won’t be very healthy, or we could teach you how to cook.”

“That… Does not sound like a good idea.” Weiss frowned. The whole endeavour would be a waste of time, cooking was not exactly a necessary skill when you didn’t eat.

“Aww, come on. Yang’s and excellent teacher.” Ruby wheedled, something glimmering in her eyes.

“Yang?”

“Yeah! She taught me how to cook back when I was a kid. I’m sure if you asked nicely, she’d teach you too.” It was a pointless thing to learn and a waste of time, but if it meant she could spend more time with Yang… No, bad idea, bad. No relationships.

“I still don’t think it’ll work out, I’d hate to ruin your kitchen.” She tried to dodge the commitment, but Ruby was already up and yelling up the stairs.

“Hey, Yang! You wanna help me teach Weiss to cook?” A pause, then an equally loud shout came from above.

“Ruby! Stop shouting up the stairs when you want to ask your sister something!” Blake shouted in annoyance as there was a thundering down the stairs and a mane of blonde hair popped into view.

“What’s this about teaching Weiss to cook?” Yang asked, stepping fully into the room. 

“Weiss was struggling with her shopping list, so I offered to help and it turns out she can’t cook, like, at all.”

“Nothing at all?” Unlike the amusement in Ruby’s voice at Weiss’ inability to cook, Yang’s only held mild curiosity edged with concern.

“I burned toast once.” The white-haired girl mumbled, feeling more embarrassed now than ever that _Yang_ knew she couldn’t cook.

“Hey, it’s fine, we’ve all gotta start somewhere. I managed to set fire to Dad’s apron first time I tried making mee siam.” Ruby snorted, trying to hold back laughter

“I remember that! It was his favourite one too!” She giggled, succumbing to the need to laugh. Weiss, on the other hand, was shocked at how blasé they were being about it.

“Was he alright?!” She squeaked, aghast at how Yang now joined in with the laughter.

“He was fine, he barely even noticed.” The blonde told Weiss. “Didn’t get a single burn.” Weiss huffed, only slightly mollified by Yang’s reassurances. “Anyway, sure, I can teach ya, if you’d like?” She flashed Weiss a blinding grin and her previous conviction that this was a bad idea flew right out the window.

“S-Sure, I’d love for you to teach me!” The terrible decision was more than worth the happy grin she got from Yang. She smiled wanly back, pointedly ignoring Ruby as the brunette looked at her suspiciously.

“Great! Do you have an idea of what you’d like to cook?” Weiss considered for a moment. She hadn’t eaten a great variety of food. Father had insisted upon fairly traditional German staples, and it had left Weiss with no desire to branch out culinarily.

“I don’t know… Something simple?” She suggested uncertainly.

“Figured as much. How about a nice marinara sauce for pasta?”

“I guess that could work...” Weiss was still a little unsure, but if Yang thought it was a good idea...

“Okay, then we’ll need some garlic, onions, tomatoes...” Yang reeled off, trotting over and plucking the pen out of Weiss’ hand, briefly touching her and nearly making her lose concentration and shift out of reality. How was there so much heat rolling off of Yang? Waves of warmth washed over her as the blonde leaned over to scrawl a few items on the list. It was almost painful, threatening to melt her, but worth it for the view she was getting.

“Ahem!” Ruby coughed loudly, making Yang jump and straighten up, both disappointing and relieving Weiss in about equal measure. “I believe I was the one helping Weiss with her shopping list?”

“Who’s the one who’s actually gonna teach her to cook?” Yang shot back, cocking a hip and resting a hand on it confidently.

“Exactly! You’re gonna get to spend loads of time with her. Let me have a turn!” Ruby pouted, crossing her arms and glaring resolutely up at Yang.

“I’m not some toy you take turns with you know.” Weiss pointed out indignantly, but was ignored by the sisters.

“Weiss went out running with you this morning, I want to get to know her a bit better.” Ruby insisted, refusing to budge as the argument grew more heated. Weiss could almost actually feel the heat emanating from the pair.

“So that means I should be able to spend the rest of the day with her.”

“You’re the one who said I should expand my friend group beyond you and Blake.” Weiss could see this argument was going nowhere and decided to step in more forcefully this time.

“That’s enough!” She snapped, cold irritation rolling off of her, and she could have sworn she saw tendrils of frost radiate out from her hand as she slammed it on the table to get their attention. “If you don’t knock it off, I’ll do it all myself.”

“Sorry, Weiss.” The sisters muttered, though they still shot annoyed looks at one another. Weiss rubbed her temples in exasperation. She’d thought she’d left sibling arguments behind now that she was dead. A fleeting image of Whitley shouting at her flickered through her mind before she returned her attention to the sisters.

“Right. Yang, Ruby’s right, she was helping me first, and you did get to spend time with me earlier this morning.” the blonde shuffled awkwardly on the spot as Weiss moved to glare at Ruby. “Ruby, there’s no need to be territorial about the whole thing, you’re the one who asked Yang to help.” The shorter girl nodded, looking to her sister.

“Sorry, Yang.”

“It’s fine, Rubes.” Yang waved it off as Weiss sighed in relief.

“Yang, if you could help us sort out what we need to buy, Ruby and I can go out to the store together. I’ll need a guide.” She spoke in a tone she hoped brokered no argument and was pleased when the two sisters nodded in agreement. Much as she would like to spend more time with the elder of the two sisters, she got the distinct impression it would not help with her growing infatuation with the blonde.

Humming in thought, Yang picked up the pen again and scribbled a few more items on the fast growing list. “Do you have any spices?”

“No? Should I?”

“It certainly wouldn’t hurt.” Yang mumbled, adding several more items. “Salt and pepper?”

“No.” Weiss imagined she should be crimson by now. How could she have come so ill prepared? It certainly wasn’t helping that Yang’s tank top was riding up, exposing several inches of stomach and revealing Yang to have a very impressive set of abs that would set anyone drooling.

“Okay… Um, I hate to ask, but you do have utensils and stuff right?” Weiss couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter.

“I may be woefully unprepared and under-equipped to cook, but I do have cookware.” Winter had very kindly bequeathed a variety of saucepans and other kitchen items, claiming she needed a new set anyway.

“Great. Anything else you wanna try?”

“Um, Bratwurst?” The white-haired girl ventured, remembering the times Klein had sneaked her some whenever Father sent her to her room with no dinner. It would be a shame to waste, but it would be nice to learn how to cook.

“Yeah, sure. I think they got some at the shops.” Yang added the wurst to the list with a flourish and handed the list over to Weiss with her left hand. For the briefest moment, their fingers touched and Weiss nearly yelped in pain.

“T-Thank you, Yang.” Weiss stammered, trying to hide her shock. She hadn’t felt pain since before she died. Something was definitely strange about Yang. Trying to distract herself, Weiss scanned over the list. It was pretty extensive and she couldn’t even recognise half the things on there. Clearly she was very out of touch and definitely needing of Yang’s help.

“You can use some of my condiments too, I just put some of the basics on there.” Yang pointed to a few items, not noticing how Weiss stiffened as she got dangerously close to touching her.

“I see...” The white-haired girl tried to subtly move away from Yang and slid out of her seat, shoving the list into Ruby’s hand. “I’ll just get my things and we can head out.”

“Sure!” The brunette chirped, although she regarded Weiss with a slightly narrowed gaze. As quickly as was polite, Weiss darted away up the stairs and into her room. She didn’t even bother opening the door, opting instead to phase straight through and come to a halt, hovering in the middle of her room.

What had that been? Weiss stared at her hand, flexing the ghostly fingers experimentally. The only thing she felt any more was a mild pressure whenever she was corporeal. She’d just assumed pain was a thing for the living. But she’d touched Yang yesterday and it hadn’t burned like that then. She was tempted to go back downstairs and run her hands all over Yang, to see if the same thing would happen again.

No, she couldn’t do that. It didn’t matter if Yang’s touch made her feel alive again, she couldn’t let herself get too close. She sighed, or rather went through the motions, before corporealising, dropping the couple of inches to the floor. Wandering over to her desk, she picked up her wallet and the cheap phone Winter had gotten her. Whilst she still remembered, she ought to get her housemates numbers, in case of emergencies.

Carrying real objects in her pockets always felt weird, she wasn’t entirely sure if her clothing was part of her, or a separate entity. Either way, it was a strange sensation. With the constant pressure against her thigh, she opened up her room door and made her way back downstairs where Yang and Ruby were waiting for her, talking about something.

“I swear Rubes, it was so cold.”

“Oh come on. So what she has poor circulation? It wasn’t that cold.”

“Ruby, I never feel the cold an-.” Yang cut herself off abruptly as she noticed Weiss stood at the foot of the stairs. “Hey Weiss, you ready to go?”

“Yes, ready to go.” She confirmed, gesturing for Ruby to lead the way.

“Sure, sure. See you in a bit.” Yang waved the pair off as they made their way to the front door.

“You don’t appear to have any shopping bags.” Ruby noted and quickly darted into her room, emerging after a moment with a collection of sturdy canvas bags. “Save the environment and all.”

“Sure.” Weiss took a few of the bags from Ruby and stepped out of the front door, waiting for Ruby to close the door behind them and start to lead the way down the hill.

“There’s a few supermarkets around here, but most are either too far away to walk or too expensive. Aldidl, however, is, like, five minutes away and super cheap.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Weiss said, trying not to think of how much money she had in her account that she couldn’t access any more. It was rather embarrassing to live off of her sister’s kindness, especially when all the food she was getting would go to waste. Winter had insisted that it was no problem. Her job, whatever it was, apparently paid well enough to support two young women, one of whom was dead.

“Yang and Blake shopped there all last year, whenever they aren’t shopping at the Chinese supermarket that is.” Weiss blinked in surprise.

“You and Yang are Chinese?” She was a little confused, neither Ruby nor Yang looked particularly Asian, and Yang was blonde

“Half, on dad’s side, and Blake’s mom’s Malay.” Ruby chirped, skipping along beside Weiss, bags swinging. “Your family’s German, right?”

“I guess it’s pretty obvious from the name.” Weiss smiled self-effacingly. She could have distanced herself from her heritage when she chose her new name, but it hadn’t felt right. “Father said we could trace the family line all the way back to the Holy Roman Empire. It’s almost certainly not true though.”

“I mean it’s pretty impressive if you can.”

“I guess. I never really put much stock in those sorts of things.”

“It’s good to know where you come from, Weiss, I have no family on my mom’s side and no idea where she came from.” Ruby looked sad for a moment, before perking up again. “But it’s fine, really. Something I can look forward to finding out.”

Weiss hummed her agreement and they fell back into silence as they made their way to the bottom of the road and continued on toward the campus. “How come you never learned to cook?”

The white-haired girl blinked, nonplussed by the abrupt resumption of conversation. “It wasn’t something I was supposed to do.” Not according to Father anyway. In his opinion, men should not cook, especially not those of higher stature. God, he was a prick.

“Oh…” Ruby looked as though she was struggling for something to say seemed to be at a loss, so Weiss hastily redirected the conversation.

“So, If you and Yang are half-Chinese, how come she’s blonde?”

“Oh, she dyes it.”

“Her eyebrows too?”

“She’s dedicated like that. She’d dye her hair downstairs if she didn’t wax.” It took Weiss a moment to understand what Ruby meant by that.

“Ruby! That’s your sister!” She shrieked in shock and outrage.

“Pfft, so what? You’ve seen what she wears around the house, she ain’t exactly someone who cares to cover herself up. And besides,” Ruby looked over at Weiss with an evil glint in her eye and a smirk plastered across her face. “I woulda thought you’d like to know about Yang’s grooming habits, seeing as you look like you’re undressing her with your eyes whenever you look at her.”

“W-What?!” Weiss spluttered, sure that if she could still drink she would have performed a spectacular spit take. “I do not. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about how you want to fuck my sister.” The brunette sounded oddly gleeful about the whole thing whilst Weiss looked on in shock at Ruby’s foul language.

“I want to do no such thing!” Weiss protested, incredibly embarrassed by just how loud and public this conversation was.

“You can’t lie to me, Weiss, I saw you staring at her abs earlier.” Ruby continued to smirk infuriatingly and Weiss was sorely tempted to just dematerialise and sink into the ground. She would die of mortification if she wasn’t already dead. “Anyway, this is a good thing since Yang wants to have sex with you too.”

“She does?!” Weiss squeaked, hoping by lowering her own volume, Ruby would do the same as part of her heart leapt that Yang liked her back.

“Well, yeah, it’s why she wants to spend so much time with you, and I wanted us to go shopping without her so I could talk to you about it.” The white-haired girl was only half-listening, still stuck on the fact that Yang found her attractive.

“But why? I’m nothing special or anything.” She mumbled in embarrassment. It was true, she’d been on a couple of incredibly mediocre dates back at Atlas Uni and a common thread throughout all of them was that they found her deeply unattractive. Then again, she had been stuck in her old body back then.

“Are you kidding? You’re super cute and pretty and interesting, and if I didn’t have my Penny, Yang and I would totally be fighting over you.” It took Weiss a few moments to register this before covering up her face to hide her non-existent blush.

After a couple of minutes, Weiss finally regained the capacity to speak. “You seem awfully nonchalant about the whole affair.”

“Oh, it’s because I’m thrilled about the whole thing. Yang hasn’t had a girlfriend or had sex with anyone since Pyrrha went and became exclusive with Jaune.”

“O-Oh, I didn’t know Pyrrha and Yang were a thing.” She felt a small stab of jealousy, think of how close and physical Yang had been with Pyrrha, something she couldn’t do.

“Oh yeah, up until like the middle of last year.” Ruby confirmed as they stopped at a crossing, waiting for the lights to change.

“I see...”

“Hey, they aren’t together any more, and Yang hasn’t had anyone like that since. Truth be told, I think she was getting kinda lonely.” Weiss winced a little at how supportive Ruby was of this potential relationship that could never happen.

“Ruby, I can’t date Yang, or have sex with her.” She said regretfully, looking away as they crossed the road.

“Why not?” Weiss chanced a glance over at the brunette and guilt tickled at the back of her mind at the girl’s crestfallen face.

“It’s… complicated. I don’t really want to go into detail.”

“But you do like her.”

“Yes, I do. But I’m afraid it won’t work and that’s that.” Weiss spoke with a heavy finality and Ruby wisely elected not to pursue it, though she still looked rather disappointed.

“Okay, well we’re here now, so let’s get you your shopping huh?” She forced a smile on her face and headed into the store, leaving Weiss feeling incredibly guilty for some reason, despite the knowledge she was doing the right thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We ain't beating around the bush here, Weiss and Yang are into each other and everyone, including them, knows it. Doesn't mean there won't be dancing around it though, what with Weiss' current state of being. Wonder what's up with Yang though, hmmm...
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and for an adorable cutie.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

Cold.

Broken nails.

Cold.

Blood freezing on fingers.

So cold.

Blackness.

Nothing.

Weiss shot up with a scream and tried to gasp for breath that would not come. It took her a few moments to remember where she was and that she couldn’t breathe any more. That was the third time this month her doze had been interrupted by that dream. At least she was pretty sure it was a dream, even though she never dreamed about anything else.

Floating upright and looking around her room, she was shocked to see her bed and Snuffles coated in frost. Squeaking in worry, she corporealised to grab Snuffles from the bed and set him on the desk, apologising profusely to the toy as she turned back to the bed and looked at it in bafflement. That had never happened before. Was it a ghost thing?

“Weiss? You okay in there?” Weiss’ head snapped to the door and she hastily scrabbled over to open it, revealing a concerned-looking Blake.

“I’m fine, thanks. Sorry about that, nightmare.” Weiss explained, obstructing the door and stopping Blake from seeing the frost encrusted bed.

“Sounded like a pretty bad one.” The dark-haired girl commented, rubbing at her eyes. Weiss just now noticed how rough the dark-haired girl looked, her eyes were a little bloodshot and, if Weiss could still smell, she was sure Blake would absolutely reek. The other three had gone out last night to one of the freshers’ fest club nights, Yang to look after Ruby and Blake to ostensibly look after Yang. Evidently the latter hadn’t quite gone to plan.

“It was par for the course.” Weiss shrugged. It wasn’t even a lie, she’d had nightmares just as bad back when she was alive. Mostly about Father finding out about her and what he’d do.

“If you say so. If it’s a regular thing, you should probably see someone about it though.” Blake suggested, rubbing her hands together for warmth. “I’m going back to bed, see you later.” The dark-haired girl bid her farewell and slipped back into her room, door closing with a click.

Slumping in relief, Weiss shut her door and returned her focus to her bed. She needed to do something with it, otherwise the ice would melt and soak the bedding. Thinking quickly, she stripped off the covers and was relieved to see the frost hadn’t reached the duvet itself. Covers removed, Weiss proceeded to gather them up in a bundle and hurry quickly and quietly downstairs and into the kitchen. Once there, she pulled the washer-dryer open and unceremoniously dumped the icy bedding inside.

Humming in thought, she eventually decided on a quick dry cycle and set the machine going. Anxiously, she crouched in front of the machine and watched the contents spin. She’d never actually had to do her own laundry before leaving home and it had been a disaster the first time she’d tried. No one had seen fit to inform her that you were supposed to separate whites from colours and spent a week in pastel pink until she’d purchased a new wardrobe.

“Blake does that when she’s drunk, ya know?” A voice from the door startled Weiss, making her lose her balance from her crouch and crash to the floor. She’d been so distracted by the dryer, she hadn’t noticed the warmth emanating from the door to the living room.

“Morning, Weissy!” Yang chirped, offering her hand which Weiss took without thinking, but was surprised and disappointed when it didn’t burn like it had a couple of days ago. “What you up to?”

“I spilled some water on my bed, I wanted to dry it out.” Weiss lied nervously, unsure if people actually did this.

“Oh, you can just hang it up in my room if you wanted, saves energy since I’ve got my heaters going.” The blonde offered with an easy grin, starting to move towards the machine, only for Weiss to interject hastily.

“Oh no thanks. It’s already started now anyway.” She rushed out, glancing nervously back at the machine. The ice would have melted by not, but the sheets would all be soaked by now and scupper her cover story. Not to mention she wasn’t sure if she could even exist in Yang’s room with all the heaters going.

“Well, my door’s open if you change your mind. I’m gonna get started on breakfast for Ruby and Blake. You want to lend a hand? Learn how to fry up a Full English?”

“Sure.” Weiss didn’t want Yang to think she was avoiding her, even though that’s exactly what she was doing. The blonde’s presence was intoxicating, ever since that momentary contact Weiss had found herself craving the burning sensation. But no matter how much she wanted it, Weiss could  _ not _ allow herself to get that close to Yang.

“Great!” Yang flashed her a bright grin before slipping past Weiss to her food cupboard. “Can you grab the bacon?” The white-haired girl nodded and pulled open the fridge, taking a moment to enjoy the chill air as it washed over her before pulling out a pack of bacon and passing it to Yang, who made an odd twitch with her arm before taking it with the other.

“Thanks! Okay, let me think… Bacon, eggs, beans… Oh, sausages! Can you grab those as well?” One quick rummage later and the sausages joined the rest of the ingredients on the counter. “I think that should do it. Neither of them like grilled tomatoes, so we’ll skip that. Should we do toast or fried bread?”

“Fried bread.” Weiss answered quickly, remembered that disastrous attempt back at Atlas, which would haunt her for the rest of her afterlife.

“Sure sure, make good use of the bacon fat.” Yang started whistling cheerfully as she pulled a frying pan out of the cupboard and set it on the hob. “We won’t use much oil, the bacon fat will be more than enough, this’ll just get us going.” She informed the white-haired girl as she fished a bottle of oil out and added some to the pan, lighting the stove as she did so.

“I insisted Blake and I get this house last year because it’s one of the few with a gas cooker.” Yang commented idly whilst waiting for the pan to heat up.

“Who were the other two housemates then?” Weiss asked nonchalantly, not wanting to sound like she was prying, which she definitely was.

“Oh that was Coco and Velvet. They started dating last year and wanted to get their own place. I can introduce you to ‘em sometime, they’re really cool.”

“That would be nice. My sister did tell me I should try to make some friends whilst I’m here.” In reality, Winter had told Weiss no such thing, advocating the opposite, in fact. But these were two other members of this Black Masquerade, and Weiss had to find out more about this group. She might be in danger for all she knew. Her new working theory was that they were some sort of cult, it would certainly explain why Ruby was so perky all the time.

“Sweet! In fact, they’ll probably be at the societies fair later, I can introduce you then.” Oh, right. Weiss had completely forgotten about that and how she’d promised to go, although now it seemed the rash decision was turning out to be a rather good one. As she was thinking about this, Yang tore open the packet of bacon and dropped several rashers in, filling the room with the pleasant sizzling sound.

“Nothing quite beats the smell of bacon in the morning!” Weiss would be inclined to agree, if she could actually smell the food. It was a strange facet of her existence, being unable to smell. Not something she actively missed, but it was sad she’d never get to smell a crisp spring breeze or her mother’s perfume again.

Oblivious to Weiss’ musings on the loss of one of her senses, Yang was busy turning the bacon and adding the sausages to the pan as she sang a song whose lyrics only seemed to comprise the words ‘bacon’ and ‘sausages’. It was possibly the most adorable thing Weiss had seen, Yang with her hair tied back in a ponytail and shimmying in front of the cooker, singing her nonsense song about breakfast meat. It took a lot of willpower for Weiss to not slip behind Yang and wrap her arms around the blonde, maybe even sneaking a feel of those perfect abs.

“Um, Earth to Weiss? You still in there?” Yang’s words shook Weiss out of her daze and she shook her head to rid herself of the imagined feeling of her fingers ghosting over Yang’s muscles.

“Yes, sorry. Spaced out a little.”

“Right…” Yang grinned almost smugly as she stretched out, causing her tank top to ride up a few inches. “Can you do the beans for me? Just empty the tin into here and zap it in the microwave for about a minute and a half.” She swapped the frying slice to her left hand and passed the tin of beans across her body to Weiss along with a small plastic pot.

“I was just thinking about the sorts of societies I’d like to join.” Weiss defended feebly as she cracked open the tin and poured the contents into the plastic saucepan she’d been provided.

“Oh yeah? And which ones might they be then?” Yang teased, pulling some plates out of another cupboard and starting to divvy up the bacon and sausages.

“Um…” Weiss had no idea what kind of societies there even were, she had studiously avoided joining any at Atlas. “What societies are you a part of?”

“Hmmm, Mathsoc, obviously.”

“Obviously?”

“Did I not mention I study maths?” Weiss blinked in surprise. Truth be told, she hadn’t expected Yang to be studying that. Her money had been on sport science given her extensive fitness routine.

“No, you didn’t. Any others?”

“Kickboxing, though I think that may be a little intense for you, Snowdrop.” Yang smirked as she looked over Weiss’ slender frame, as Weiss turned to look at the blonde, eyebrow raised.

“Snowdrop? Isn’t that a little presumptuous of you?” She snarked earning a lazy grin from Yang as the blonde pulled a couple of slices of bread out of the bread bin and dropped them in the hot bacon fat.

“I think it suits you, you’re all pale, pretty and delicate, just like a snowdrop.” If she still had blood, Weiss was sure it would have all rushed to her cheeks at Yang’s words, even more so when they were capped off with a flirtatious wink.

“I-I…” The white-haired girl stammered out before busying herself with the microwave in an effort to hide her embarrassment which was not helped by Yang’s soft laughter. How long had she said to put it in for? In the end Weiss just ended up jabbing at randomly at buttons until the microwave started, and she rested her head on the machine, even more embarrassed than before.

“That’s not how you set the microwave.” Weiss nearly died again from shock as Yang’s voice husked in her ear. The blonde’s heat warmed her back as she leaned over to press a few buttons, resetting the heating cycle. “Just like that.”

Weiss wasn’t sure what would melt her first, the blonde’s maddening contralto that sent shivers running up and down her spine or the fiery warmth that emanated from her. Of course, as a paragon of composure, Weiss did the sensible thing and squeaked ever so elegantly and dodged out from under Yang’s arm.

“Cutlery! I can get the cutlery!” She didn’t wait for an answer, pulling open the cutlery drawer and grabbing a random assortment and fleeing the kitchen to the sound of more laughter. Weiss quickly laid out two places for the other two occupants of the house, as well as several unnecessary items, before collapsing dramatically on one of the sofas.

Incorrigible! She was an absolutely incorrigible flirt! And the worst part was that Weiss didn’t mind it at all. She liked it, even. Being desired by someone was exhilarating, not even taking into account how Yang’s touch actually made her feel something. She wasn’t going to make it, she just wasn’t.

Weiss could hear Yang continuing to bustle around the kitchen singing her breakfast ditty, ‘eggs’ having now been added to the lyrics. God, she was so fucked.

“Blake! Ruby! Breakfast!” Weiss jerked upright as Yang hollered for their housemates as she emerged from the kitchen, bearing two plates piled high with greasy food, which she set down at the table,thankfully not commenting on the excess cutlery. There were two loud groans, one from upstairs and the other just down the corridor.

“There’s no need to shout, Yang. I can hear you whisper at fifteen metres.” Blake grumbled as she descended the stairs.

“Don’t be silly, no you can’t.” Yang laughed, though it sounded forced and Weiss noticed Yang’s eyes flicker to her briefly. “Ruby, come on. Hangover cure!”

“I’m not entirely sure of the efficacy of consuming large quantities of fat and grease as a hangover cure.” Weiss muttered, climbing to her feet to join the others at the table, it was only polite to do so.

“Of course it’s effective, Blakey and Pyrrha can both attest to how good it is.” Yang grinned easily as she slumped in her chair as Weiss took the one opposite.

“She’s not wrong.” Blake conceded, picking up a fork and spearing a sausage. “It does work pretty well.”

“Uuuurgh!” There was another groan as Ruby trudged into the living room, looking like an absolute mess. “It’s too early.”

“Don’t be silly, it’s half eight. Now eat your bacon.” Yang instructed, gesturing to the empty seat, which Ruby proceeded to collapse into and start shovelling bacon into her mouth, not even bothering with the cutlery.

“How come you’re alright, Yang?” Weiss asked, a little confused given the state of Blake and Ruby and Yang’s perkiness.

“Oh, I don’t drink any more.” Yang said, as though it were obvious. “I just like dancing and someone needed to keep an eye on these two to stop them from doing something stupid.”

“I’ll have you know I am eminently sensible when drunk.” Blake protested around a mouth of fried bread.

“You tried to steal  _ another _ traffic cone, Blake. You already have, like, five stashed in your room.” Yang deadpanned whilst Blake blushed and Ruby let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Hey, you weren’t much better Rubes. You started trying to find Penny so you could, and I quote: ‘Ride that strap all day and all of the night’.”

“Yaaaaaaang!” Ruby moaned, trying to hide her face in her hoodie as her sister cackled at her embarrassment.

“I ain’t judging ya, sis. I’m just saying you aren’t exactly in a position to judge other people for their poor decisions whilst drunk.”

“Oh really?” Blake was now smirking devilishly at Yang. “Have you forgotten that time in first year when you accidentally spilled an entire bottle of vodka over the bar and set it on fire?”

“I thought I swore you to silence!” Yang hissed in mock anger, pointing a finger in Blake’s face while she smiled innocently at the blonde.

“I swore no such oath. And we both know if I had I couldn’t have even said it in the first place.” The dark-haired girl preened smugly as Yang’s finger dropped in defeat.

“Okay, fine, you got me there.” She grumbled, though she flashed Weiss a grin once she was done. “How about you, Weiss? Got any good drunken antics to share?”

“I don’t drink, so no stories I’m afraid.” Would never drink anything ever again either. Now that was a tragedy, she’d never get to drink cherry cola again.

“Awww...” Ruby moaned. “Wanted to hear an embarrassing story about Weiss...”

“I don’t think my dignity can be salvaged after the toast burning incident.” The white-haired girl pointed out, if only to appease the pouting girl and eliciting a snort from her.

“Still don’t know how you burned toast that badly.” Ruby chuckled, Yang shooting Weiss a sympathetic look.

“Oh believe me, somehow I managed.” Weiss began shuffling awkwardly on the spot, more than a little upset about the turn the conversation had taken. Thankfully, Yang seemed to have picked up on this and spoke up before Ruby could continue mocking Weiss’ lack of talent in the kitchen.

“So! Societies fair today! Y’all looking forward to it?” This was a sufficient distraction for Ruby who swivelled to face her sister, starting to bounce in excitement.

“Yeah! It’s gonna be great, we get to see all the stuff that’s on offer, meet the gang again and finally become an official member of-.” Ruby rambled as Weiss cocked her head in interest, especially as she was cut off abruptly by Blake throwing a piece of bacon at her.

“Official member of what?” The white-haired girl asked innocently leading to several swiftly exchanged glances.

“The… Far East Society, yeah.” Ruby answered, looking shiftily at the other two. “We get together to discuss food and culture and stuff and when I was visiting last year I attended a few meetings.”

“Really? It sounds fascinating. Maybe I could join?” Weiss tried her best to sound innocently interested but Blake didn’t seem to be buying it, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at her.

“Oh, well. The membership’s pretty exclusive, and you kinda need to be of East Asian descent to join. Sorry, Weiss.” It was a poor and blatant lie on Ruby’s part, there was no way a society would discriminate entry like that. But she didn’t want to draw too much attention to herself, Blake was already suspicious.

“Oh. That’s a shame. I hope you have fun though.” The other three relaxed as Weiss let the topic drop.

“Yeah, sorry you can’t join, Weiss.” Yang chipped in and she actually looked it too. “The fair will be starting soon, maybe we should start getting ready to go. I’ll handle the dishes, you two are gonna need the extra time to look human.” She indicated Ruby and Blake, who may not have been groaning and moaning any more, but still looked like death warmed over.

Neither argued as they got to their feet and started to make their way back to their rooms, Ruby calling dibs on the bathroom first and leaving Weiss alone with Yang. Slowly, the white-haired girl got to her feet to go and hide in her room and pretend to get ready. However, before she left, Yang spoke up, oddly quietly.

“I’m sorry for going too far with the flirting, Weiss.” She said, looking up guiltily. “And I’m sorry I scared you, I’ll tone it down. Or stop entirely if you want.”

“What? No, no, no. You didn’t scare me.” Weiss reassured hastily, before she thought her answer through. This could have been her chance to nip this problem right in the bud

“But you ran away.” Yang said. “Please, don’t lie just to appease me.”

“I’m not! I-I got embarrassed.” Weiss admitted, rubbing her hands together nervously. “I actually quite liked it.” The blonde perked up at Weiss’ words, but allowed her to continue. “It’s just, well… Nobody’s shown interest in me like that before, it’s honestly a little overwhelming.” Yang’s sunny grin was almost enough to persuade Weiss that this wasn’t a bad idea. Almost.

“Does that mean you’d like me to keep going?”

“I… would not be opposed to it.” Yang looked like she wanted to jump up and pull Weiss into a hug, but restrained herself.

“Okay then. I will say though, I’m surprised people haven’t shown any interest in you before, Snowdrop. You’re absolutely gorgeous.” There weren’t any words, so Weiss did the only sensible thing. She squeaked in sheer embarrassment and ran for the stairs, Yang’s laughter following her as she went. This was going to be awful, but it would be the best kind of awful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear Weissy, you got it bad. I do love domestic fluff even if not much is happening, this ain't that kind of story. Anyway, next chapter we go to the societies fair and meet Coco, it's going to be fun!
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being there for me.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

After the events of breakfast, Weiss had spent an hour decorporealised whilst the others got ready, recouping her strength in preparation for the fair.

She should be grateful she was strong enough to maintain her form for as long as she could. When she’d first come back, she could only manifest for a few seconds, a minute at most, and could barely lift even a piece of paper. But as with everything, she wasn’t going to let this get in her way, and after a solid month she was as strong as she’d been in life, if not a little stronger.

The four had regrouped in the living room and set out together. Yang seemed particularly excited about getting to meet this Coco again, regaling Weiss with tales of this woman’s exploits. What Weiss gathered was that Coco was a master’s student in maths and something of a genius to boot. She only wore the most fashionable clothing and she had a girlfriend named Velvet who she absolutely doted on.

The fair was being held on a small field just outside the guild of students, inside a marquee filled with various stalls and students. It had been months since Weiss had been around this many people in such close quarters. True, the supermarket had been reasonably crowded, but nothing like this.

She had to be extra careful to make sure she didn’t bump into anyone, those she did accidentally knock into would often jump and look wildly around, presumably for the source of the sudden chill. Although It was amusing to hear a rumour quickly beginning to circulate about someone sneaking around the fair and touching people with ice cubes.

She did briefly wonder why people weren’t taking note of the slight aura of cold she projected. It wasn’t anything too drastic, only a couple of degrees difference, but Winter had commented that it was noticeable. Perhaps it was Yang and her unusual aura of warmth cancelling hers out.

Speaking of the blonde, Weiss found that she’d taken Weiss’ appreciation of their flirtations as a carte blanche and had happily intertwined the fingers of her cool right hand with Weiss’ left. They’d left Blake and Ruby at the entrance and Yang was busy pointing out the various stalls and students she knew.

“Over at the anime stall are Sun and Neptune. Sun is Blake’s friend and he’s pretty cool. Neptune’s kind of a flirt though, so watch out for him.”

“Does that mean I should be watching out for you too?” Weiss smirked. It was all too easy to fall into this lightly flirtatious banter, at least until Yang started with the compliments and reduced Weiss to a stuttering mess.

“Hmmm, depends if you think I’m worth keeping an eye on.” Yang topped her reply with a wink that would have had Weiss blushing furiously if she could. She was saved from having to come up with a witty counter-flirt by a shout from the other end of the marquee.

“Yo, Yang! Over here!” Weiss craned her neck, standing on tip-toe to try and catch a glimpse of who it was who shouted, but found herself tugged along by an enthusiastic Yang, who ploughed through the amassed students to reach the voice.

When they reached the source of the voice, Weiss was infinitely grateful she had no blood to rush to her cheeks once she saw what was arrayed on the stand. The most innocuous items on the table were several twists of rope, but it only got worse from there. Whips and crops were laid out in neat rows and punctuated by strange implements that looked to be several strips of leather bound to a handle.

Behind the stall stood three students. There was a bored looking young man with long black hair that had a pink streak dyed at the front, and a woman wearing a large pair of sunglasses and a beret who looked almost as pale as Weiss and grinned widely at the sight of Yang. However, possibly the oddest of them all was a woman wearing a variety of scarves around her neck and head with small tufts of brunette hair poking out through the gaps, a ratty band t-shirt and ripped jeans. But that wasn’t the strangest part of her attire, that prize went to the intricate harness of interwoven rope wrapped over her torso.

“Coco! Long time no see, how’s the night shift been treating ya?” Yang greeted the beret wearing woman with a tight one-armed hug over the stall.

“Can’t complain, can’t complain. Sorry again we dropped out on you and Blake.” The famed Coco smirked, pulling back and cocking a hip, not looking all that sorry.

“Hey, I told ya, it’s fine. You and Velvet wanted a place to yourselves. Hey, Velvs.” Yang addressed the tied up woman briefly, who waved back awkwardly given her state of restraint before returning to talking to another visitor to the stall.

“Besides we managed to fill up the last room pretty well in my opinion.” Coco’s grin only grew wider, and it took on a slightly predatory look as she cast a glance over at Weiss.

“Oh ho? And pray tell who could match my scintillating presence.” Weiss reluctantly let herself be guided forward by Yang to introduce her to her friend.

“Coco, this is Weiss. Weiss, meet Coco Adel.”

“Charmed.” Coco smirked, extending a hand to shake which Weiss took. Coco’s hand was unusually cold, not quite as cold as Weiss’ own though. The brunette’s grin somehow grew even wider as she released Weiss’ hand, not commenting on how cold it was. There was something about Coco that set Weiss on edge, in much the same way Pyrrha had done. A sort of predatory grace, but unlike Pyrrha, who gave off a feeling of not quite belonging, Coco fit in almost too well amongst the people milling around.

“This is an interesting one, very interesting.” Coco commented idly, pulling her sunglasses down to flash Yang an appraising look. “You’ve done well for yourself, Yang.”

“Coco, don’t say stuff like that in front of her.” Yang hissed, face pinking ever so slightly.

“You mind if I have a quick chat to Yang in private, Weiss? Why don’t you go chat with Velvet for a bit?” The way Coco phrased it made it clear it wasn’t a request. The white-haired girl looked to Yang for guidance, but the blonde nodded in agreement with Coco’s instructions.

“We’ll only be a sec.” She reassured Weiss, giving her hand a quick squeeze and releasing it to follow Coco away from the stand.

“Don’t worry, Coco’s always like that, you get used to it.” A dry monotone startled Weiss and she whirled around to face the bored young man who’d approached now that Coco had left. “I’m Ren. Pyrrha mentioned you a couple of days ago.”

“You’re friends with Pyrrha?” Weiss asked, pushing her curiosity and anxiety about Yang and Coco aside.

“By association mostly, she’s more my fiancée’s friend.” He explained before turning to Velvet. “Velvet, come meet Yang’s new housemate.” The brunette trotted over, smiling welcomingly.

“Hi! I’m Velvet, Coco’s girlfriend. I’d shake your hand but I’m a little tied up right now.” Ren rolled his eyes at the rather weak joke.

“Are you feeling alright? Nothing pinching? Still feel your fingers?” He intoned, placing his hand in Velvet’s for her to squeeze.

“I’m all good, you did a great job with this, Ren, as always.” The brunette complimented her friend’s work as Weiss averted her eyes in embarrassment, remembering what was spread out in front of her.

“I take pride in my art.” He said simply, once he was satisfied that Velvet was doing alright.

“So, Weiss, you interested in joining?” Velvet asked, turning back to the embarrassed girl.

“Joining what?” She had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly what she’d be joining, you didn’t reach twenty without coming across a few questionable websites.

“The Beacon Uni fetish society, of course!” Velvet chirped and made an odd move like she was trying to gesture to their stand’s contents. “Um, Ren could you…?” Sighing, Ren gestured dramatically, though he maintained his stoic expression throughout.

“Thanks!” Velvet smiled happily at up at Ren before continuing. “We educate people on kink and teach them safe practices. Well, safer, technically. There’s always an inherent risk, but we help people learn how to minimize that.”

“And the university supports and funds you?” Weiss asked incredulously.

“Well, of course. We’re not going off and having orgies every week, despite what some people have to say about us.” Velvet shot an evil glare over Weiss’ shoulder at a grey-haired student at a stand just opposite them. “We’re primarily here for education. About two years ago the guild got enough complaints that we were put under investigation and had to justify what we do, So Coco just strolled into the meeting and showed the committee a bunch of reports on what has happened to people who weren’t properly informed, and they dropped the investigation.”

“Coco’s been a part of this for a while, then?”

“She’s been treasurer for three years now. I’m president and Ren here is the secretary.” Velvet confirmed as she glanced in the direction Coco and Yang had left in. “They’re taking their time.”

“I can go see if I can find them.” Weiss offered, her curiosity rearing its head again.

“Oh, no, best not interrupt them.” Velvet tried to dissuade Weiss, but she waved it off.

“I’ll just check where they’ve gone.” And she darted off into the crowds before Velvet could try to talk her out of it again. Weaving carefully between the students Weiss stumbled out of the marquee. Now, where could Yang and Coco have gone? Weiss strode purposefully around the side of the building, they’d probably gone somewhere quieter and out of earshot of other people. As she approached the next corner she could hear the faint sounds of conversation. Bingo.

Letting herself drift apart so she couldn’t be heard, Weiss drifted over to the corner to listen.

“I’m just saying, having a relationship’s going to be hard if you don’t bring her into the Masquerade.”

“Coco, you are not turning her.” Yang’s voice was sharp. “And I actually like having someone close to me who treats me like I’m normal for once in my life.”

“Hey, who said anything about turning? Ren’s in and here ain’t nothing special about him.”

“You only let him in because you’re afraid of Nora.” Yang sniped back.

“Okay, true, but let’s face it, we’re all afraid of Nora.” Coco sighed and Weiss could hear the pair starting to move towards her. “Just think about it. Who knows, maybe she’ll surprise you.” Panic flooded Weiss. They’d be turning that corner any second and they see her eavesdropping. So she did the only logical thing someone who can walk through walls would do and dove through the wall of the building, uncaring of what was on the other side just as Coco began to round the corner.

She floated there in darkness for several minutes, praying she’d been fast enough. Once she was sure she was safe, Weiss stuck her head back out of the wall and looked around. Deserted, thank God. Feeling the tension ebb away, Weiss floated out and corporealized, dropping to the floor, and began walking back towards the marquee.

Instead of answers, all she had was more questions. How many people in Yang’s friend group were a part of this Black Masquerade? It seemed to be all of them. All of them except Weiss, that is. This was getting more and more suspicious with talk of Coco ‘turning’ her and Yang wanting to be seen as normal. As far as Weiss could tell there was nothing abnormal about her, except for whatever this secret cult was.

Not for the first time she considered just asking Yang what the hell was going on, but that could lead to some awkward questions and Weiss getting exposed. No, she could work this out on her own. She was smart, and if it was a cult who were planning on sacrificing her, they’d have a hard job trying to kill a girl who’s already dead.

As Weiss approached the marquee, she saw Yang waiting at the entrance, foot tapping anxiously. “Weiss! There you are. Velvet said you’d gone looking for us.” Yang trotted forward when she noticed the white-haired girl.

“Yes, I got a bit lost. I’m not used to this campus yet.” Weiss lied as Yang led the way back into the marquee.

“I was like that on my first day of lectures. I ended up in a Greek Lit one by mistake.” Yang chuckled as they weaved through the crowd back to the fetish society’s stand.

“Hey, Weiss. Yang was worried about you.” Coco greeted the pair when they got there and Weiss was surprised to see both Blake and Ruby waiting too, Blake was engaged in a quiet conversation with Velvet whilst Ruby was taking a particular interest in a crop, something Yang latched onto immediately.

“Hey, Rubes, planning something special for Penny tonight?” She teased, making Ruby squeak in shock and drop the crop hastily as she leapt back.

“What!? No!” She protested quickly and loudly. “I was just curious!”

“Sure you were.” Sarcasm dripped from Yang’s voice but she left it at that. “You see any societies you wanna join?”

“Well, anime and manga looks cool, and you know I’ve wanted to get into tabletop RPGs for a while.” Ruby listed off, regaining some of her perkiness now that Yang had laid off her.

“Cool, cool, I think Jaune’s in tabletop so you won’t be alone there.”

“Aww, but I was hoping you’d join too, Yang.” Ruby whined.

“Rubes, I’m in third year now, that means I’ve actually gotta study. I can’t be going to all sorts of society meetings if I wanna keep on top of all the work.” Yang explained patiently, rolling her eyes. “I’m even cutting back on kickboxing a little so the only other thing I’ve got going on is the… Far East Society.” There was a choked laugh from Coco at Yang’s awful lie.

“Since when were you part of the Far East Society, Yang?” She smirked in amusement as Yang struggled for an answer.

“We all started going last year and we took Ruby with us.” Yang tried, her eyes begging Coco to leave it alone as they flicked meaningfully over at Weiss whilst the white-haired girl pretended not to notice.

“Sounds fun. I hope you enjoy that.” Coco said, showing some mercy, but Weiss suspected that had more to do with her trussed-up girlfriend looking at her warningly. “Right now though, we’re breaking for lunch. Ren, can you untie my lovely bunny whilst I start putting this stuff away? You four want to join us?”

“Is Nora going to be there, Ren?” Yang asked, as the young man began untying the various knots on Velvet.

“I’m afraid not, she said she had some ‘stuff’ to attend to. I didn’t want to ask.” He answered dryly.

“Cool, then sure!” The blonde chirped, then quickly followed up with. “Don’t want to overwhelm Weiss too much.” After Ren gave her a look.

“I’m not actually that hungry.” Weiss tried to protest, but they fell on deaf ears as the others started to pitch in and help put stuff away.

“Aww, come on, Weiss. You can make some new friends!” Ruby wheedled, as she collected up the crops and handed them to Coco to put away in a large gym bag. “You don’t have to get food if you don’t want to, we’re probably just hitting one of the pubs, right?” She addressed Coco who nodded.

“Yeah, the Apple’s a decent place, they’ve got a few board games we can play too.” She filled in, zipping up the bag and handing some of the twists of rope over to Ren, who had finished freeing Velvet.

“I’m still not sure.” It wasn’t that Weiss was nervous persay, but spending more time than strictly necessary with a probable cult did not seem like a good idea. Really, continuing to live with members of a cult was a very bad idea. But Weiss hadn’t let death stop her, she certainly wasn’t going to let a bunch of crazies get in her way.

“Please, Weiss. For me?” Yang pleaded and tried to flutter her eyelashes. She failed miserably, but Weiss couldn’t help but giggle at how ridiculous it looked. “Ha! You laughed, that means you have to come!”

Weiss shook her head in resigned amusement. “Okay, fine. I’ll come with you.”

“Yes!” For a moment it looked like Yang was about to pull Weiss into a hug, but she stopped herself at the last moment and smiled awkwardly. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”

“I’m sure I won’t, not if you’re there.” Weiss spoke without thinking, but the flirtatious remark was worth it as Yang’s smile brightened considerably and she slipped her hand into Weiss’ again.

“Sweet of you to say, Snowdrop.” Yang murmured, low enough that only Weiss could hear and it sent a shiver down her spine. She was supposed to be avoiding this, but so far all she’d done was encourage it. She had no regrets, despite knowing it was destined to crash and burn. She should stop this, tell Yang they couldn’t be together, and she would, eventually. Right now though, she was too busy enjoying the cool grip of Yang’s fingers interlaced with her own as she was pulled along after the small group off to lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact time! My university did indeed have a fetish society and they did usually advertise with someone tied up in a rope harness over their clothes. In fact that someone was me on at least two separate occasions. Good times, good times. Anyway, the mystery thickens as Weiss gets closer the Black Masquerade, whatever it is.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being the sweetest.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

Once again, Yang and Weiss walked hand in hand as they left the campus with Yang’s friends. Ruby skipped ahead and chattered animatedly at Ren whilst Coco and Velvet talked in soft tones with Blake.

“You have some interesting friends.” Weiss said as they descended the hill towards the small river crossing into town.

“They are quite the eclectic group, aren’t they?”

“I’m surprised you all hang out together.”

“Eh, we have various connections through different people. Ren’s part of the group ‘cause he’s Nora’s fiancé, and she joined because she’s Pyrrha’s gym friend, and I invited Pyrrha.” Yang shrugged.

“So you’re the core of this little band, then?” Weiss tried to keep her voice light as she pried a little further. It would be just her luck to start crushing on the head cultist, but surely Yang was too pretty to be an evil cultist trying to bring about the end times.

“Well, Coco and Velvet are the ones who started it. Coco helped me out back in first year and sort of adopted me as their pet fresher. But I suppose I kind of am, since I’ve invited the most people.” She raised her free hand and began ticking off on her fingers, not noticing Weiss sag in relief that Yang wasn’t in charge of the cult. “First was Blake and then Pyrrha. I introduced Ruby last year and now you. If you don’t mind hanging out with us that is?”

“I don’t mind at all. I like your friends.” Weiss admitted. She hadn’t had any friends back at Atlas University, and she supposed a bunch of cultists was better than no friends, admittedly not by much, but she couldn’t exactly afford to be picky.

As the group approached the small bridge crossing the river, Weiss saw Coco slow down and halt at the crossing. Velvet seemed to be reassuring her of something, after which Coco nodded choppily and let Velvet lead her quickly across the bridge.

Weiss cocked her head in confusion at this strange behaviour. “What was that about?”

Yang hummed, mulling over her answer for some reason. “Coco’s afraid of bridges. I know it sounds daft, but please don’t tease her, she gets embarrassed about it.”

Weiss gave Yang a curious look. but nodded in understanding. It was a rather strange thing for someone to be scared of, but maybe Coco had fallen off a bridge or something. That would be a very understandable reason to be afraid of the things. Weiss contemplated this as she and Yang crossed the bridge themselves, the sound of running water underneath as they joined the others waiting at the pedestrian crossing just the other side.

“You been to the Apple yet, Weiss?” Coco asked, somehow looking even more pale than she had a few minutes earlier.

“No, I haven’t been out of the house much.” Weiss admitted. It was far less strain on her mind to just stay incorporeal and watch playlists of various videos on her laptop all day.

“Well, we can’t have that now, can we? No friend of mine is going to be some sort of shut-in.” Coco declared loudly to the group, to varying amounts of approval.

“Since when was I your friend?”

“Any girlfriend of Yang’s is a friend of mine.” As it turned out, Weiss didn’t need to be able to blush, Yang turned red enough for the pair of them as Weiss babbled out denials.

“What! No, we aren’t dating or anything, we’re just friends! What on Earth gave you that impression?!” Coco just lowered her sunglasses, giving Weiss a brief glimpse of bright scarlet irises as they flicked to look pointedly at Weiss and Yang’s intertwined fingers, before the glasses were restored to their perch. Weiss was about to pull her hand from Yang’s, but the blonde gave it a quick squeeze before she turned to Coco.

“Oh, and tell me, how far did Velvet’s tongue make it down your throat before you stopped saying you were ‘just friends’?” To Coco’s credit, she took the barb in stride and smirked up at Yang.

“Touché, Xiao Long.” She admitted, pulling Velvet tighter into her side, eliciting a squeak from the shy brunette. The two of them set off across the crossing and left the other pair to follow a little slower. Despite Yang getting in the last word, Weiss still felt like she was still on the losing side of the argument, something Yang seemed to pick up on, since she spoke quietly.

“I’m sorry I implied we were just in denial of a relationship or something, but turning things back on Coco is the only way you can get her off your back.”

“I understand.” Weiss replied shortly, though she didn’t remove her hand from Yang’s grip. The group turned right when they reached what passed for a main street in the student area of the city and turned right up the hill towards the train station, past a couple of pubs to their right, which Weiss could see were all starting to fill up with students.

“Why aren’t we eating on campus?” Weiss asked Yang. “Surely it would be easier and closer.”

“We’re not eating on campus because the food is crap.” Coco called back, momentarily distracted from wrapping one of Velvet’s many scarves around her own neck in an attempt to bind them together.

“I wouldn’t have phrased it quite like that, but yes, the food on campus is not good.” Ren added, turning to walk backwards and look at Weiss properly. “And under no circumstances go to the noodle bar.” Weiss felt Yang shudder beside her when the young man mentioned the noodle bar.

“Oh, God, you’re right, Ren. Weiss, promise me you will not go to the noodle bar.” She begged, much to the white-haired girl’s bemusement.

“Is it really that bad?” She asked the group as a whole and there was a chorus of agreement from all present.

“We went when it opened last year. I was visiting for the weekend and we decided to give it a try.” Ruby chimed in. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.” All the others except Coco voiced their agreement.

“Dad would’ve burned the place down if he’d even smelled that stuff. It was an insult to Chinese cooking.” Weiss gaped in horror at how nonchalant Yang was about arson, and was even more shocked by the lack of reaction and even approval from the others.

“It was an insult to cooking in general.” Blake added, looking slightly queasy at just the memory of it.

“Is nobody going to question the arson?!” Weiss asked incredulously, looking around at the group.

“Relax, Weiss, it was just a joke.” Velvet told her, but she shot Coco a warning look when she let out a snort of laughter.

“Yeah, Dad would never set fire to a building. At least not without permission.” Weiss decided it was far too much effort to question the caveat and changed the subject. “So is the food at the Apple any good?”

“Not really.” Yang admitted, grinning sheepishly. “But they’ve got board games and not many people go there.”

“I see…” It didn’t really matter to Weiss whether the food was any good, but the others weren’t to know that food was pretty much irrelevant to her. “Well, like I said, I’m not all that hungry.”

“Will you at least let me buy you a drink?” Weiss rolled her eyes and tried desperately to project an aura of nonchalance. In actuality, she was struggling not to panic yet again. She should refuse, she really should. She should take the opportunity to tell Yang point blank that they couldn’t be together, in any sense of the word.

“We’ll see.” No! What fuck was she doing? This was not how you tell someone you can’t date them! She bit back a screech as a coy smile flitted across Yang’s face.

“I look forward to it.” It was fine, everything was fine. She’d just pull Yang aside once they got to the pub and tell her then. No more putting this off. She’d already let it go on too long.

“Well, you might not think the food there is good, but I for one wanna get my hands on some of those spicy wedges they do.” Ruby grinned, already licking her lips in anticipation.

“You know I can make those for you myself at home right?”

“But you never get the spice mix right, and we don’t have a deep fat fryer.” Ruby moaned, before sticking her tongue out at Yang when her sister growled in mock anger.

“Well, excuse me for wanting you to eat healthily. If we had one of those things, you’d deep fry everything.”

“I can’t help it if everything tastes better when it’s slathered in batter and fried to perfection now, can I?” Weiss stifled a snort as Yang muttered under her breath something about Ruby being an ungrateful little hellspawn. “What about you guys? What are y’all getting?”

“Oh, I’m not that hungry either.” There was an evil grin on Coco’s face as she looked back at the group and Weiss had a feeling she would not like what she was about to say next. “But I might grab a bite later.”

That was oddly anticlimactic. Weiss blinked in confusion a couple of times. Not that she needed to blink either, but there were a few automatic responses she still did. Everyone else in the group, however, groaned loudly, interspersed with weary chuckles. Velvet seemed to be particularly affected by her girlfriend’s words, as she elbowed Coco had in the side, pulling her scarves up to hide her luminescent blush.

Surprisingly, Yang didn’t seem to be as begrudgingly amused as the rest of them, and Weiss noticed her surreptitiously fish her phone out of her pocket and tap out a quick text. Weiss couldn’t quite see all the message from where she was without giving away that she was looking, but she could just about make out a single line ‘Do you want to out us all?’ before it was sent. It wasn’t very unexpected when there was a buzzing from inside Coco’s jacket as the brunette pulled out her own phone, glanced at it and snickered before putting it away again, seeming to completely ignore whatever it was Yang had told her.

The more time she spent around these people, the more confused Weiss got. Why would Yang be afraid of being outed? The house had pride flags adorning its living room and Yang made no secret of her attraction to Weiss. Not to mention she was still puzzled by what Yang had meant by Weiss treating her like she’s normal. Why wouldn’t she? Aside from the whole cult thing and her burning touch, which Weiss theorised was more her fault, Yang seemed perfectly normal. At least, what Weiss understood as normal. Being homeschooled and then being incredibly socially awkward during her stint at Atlas gave her a pretty skewed idea of what normal was supposed to be.

Besides, Winter said normal was overrated, along with something about it being perfectly fine to just spend an evening after work watching kids’ cartoons and eating cookie dough ice cream. Weiss didn’t see the appeal, but she didn’t have time to ponder over her sister’s words of wisdom as the group came to a halt outside a blue building next to the railway bridge. Weiss could hear the faint sounds of music and conversation drifting out as Coco spun theatrically to address her.

“Welcome to the Bath Apple!” She declared throwing her arms out, making Ruby giggle as Ren and Blake rolled their eyes in an impressive display of synchronicity.

“She does this to everyone we bring here.” Yang whispered in Weiss’ ear as Coco led the way into the pub.

“And here I thought I was special.” Fucking damnit, why did flirting have to be so easy with the one person she couldn’t be with? Well, she couldn’t be with anyone at all, really, but at least with literally anyone else she was a charmless wreck. Her very disappointing dating life at Atlas could attest to that. What was it that Neon girl had said about her again? Oh, yes, that she had less charm than a blobfish. An odd comparison that had confused Weiss so much at the time that she hadn’t noticed Neon had already left.

“But you are, Weiss! I think so, at least, and we all know I’m right!” Weiss had never wished she weren’t dead any more than she did right at this moment, looking up at Yang as the blonde told her she thought Weiss was special. Her eyes were drawn inexorably to Yang’s mouth, stretched wide in a cocky grin and the gorgeous lips that framed it. She hadn’t seen Yang use any lipstick, but they still looked to be a perfect coral pink with no cracks or chaps. It would just be so easy to float up and let her lips meet Yang’s in a searing kiss.

“Shall we go in, then?” Yang asked, and Weiss blinked, looking around wildly. All the others had already gone into the pub and Yang was about to lead the way in. She couldn’t do this anymore, she just couldn’t. As Yang tried to pull Weiss along after her, she didn’t follow, and Yang was halted by the tug on her arm. “Weiss?”

“I-I’m sorry, Yang.” She couldn’t even cry anymore, it was probably for the best as she was sure she’d be ugly crying right now.

“Sorry? Sorry for what, Weiss?” Yang turned back to face Weiss, worry creasing her brow.

“I like you, Yang. I like you so much.” Weiss paused and tried to draw breath to steel herself before she remembered she couldn’t. “But we can’t date, or even be together. I’m sorry.”

Yang blinked in surprise for a moment her face falling. “But why? I thought you said you liked the flirting.”

“I do, I really, really do. But… It’s complicated, I’m sorry, I should just go.”

“Weiss, wait, no. We can talk this out, you don’t have to go.” Yang pleaded, but Weiss had already let her fingers fade from existence to slip through Yang’s grasp and she was already half way down the road, taking a random turn and disappearing into the warren of student houses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww Weiss, sweetie... You poor disaster lesbian. You're gonna break both yours and Yang's hearts if you do something like that. Hopefully it will all work out, though. Also Coco does have a terrible sense of humour, even if Weiss doesn't quite get it yet.
> 
> Big big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and working so hard with me on this.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7

Weiss was lost.

She really regretted not learning the area better and convincing her sister she didn’t need a data plan for her phone. It had made sense at the time. Winter was already paying her rent, for the food she didn’t need and for whatever other miscellaneous things Weiss needed. Getting a cheaper phone plan was the least Weiss could do to try and alleviate the burden on her sister.

According to her phone’s clock, it had been several hours since Weiss had fled from Yang. Several hours to think about what she’d done. She could still see the hurt on Yang’s face as she’d run away. She really had not handled that well at all. But if she’d left it any longer, she most certainly would have done something she’d regret.

No, it was better this way, better for everyone. Her phone buzzed again in her pocket, such a weird feeling being able to feel her clothes like they were a part of her. Pulling it out, she saw once again it was Yang calling her. She’d been blowing Weiss’ phone up with messages and calls all afternoon, with messages and calls from Blake and Ruby scattered amongst them.

She knew she should answer, let them know she was alright, but she couldn’t bear the thought of hearing Yang asking if she was alright, voice filled with frantic concern. Weiss felt absolutely miserable as she trudged along through the darkening streets, wondering how to get back to the house. Should she even go back? It wasn’t as though she needed to sleep, or eat, or anything you needed a house for.

Maybe she could call Winter, she’d know what to do. Weiss checked her phone again. Winter would be off her shift and home in about thirty minutes. Groaning in annoyed resignation, she put away the phone and continued her meandering walk.

Why did everything have to be so hard? Weiss was now very firmly of the opinion that death sucked. So what she could float, walk through walls and look exactly how she was supposed to? She couldn’t maintain any kind of intimate relationship with anyone. Hell, she could barely be friends with anyone other than Winter! She really should be grateful for her second chance, and she was, most of the time anyway. If she’d been a pettier person, she would have started blaming Yang for being so welcoming and trying to get Weiss involved in things, when all she wanted was to keep her head down, get her degree and get out. But it was nobody’s fault but her own.

It was a mess, a massive fucking mess Weiss had no idea how to fix. Stopping for a second to take in her surroundings, she realised she was right next to the park she, Yang and Pyrrha had run through a few days ago. She actually knew where she was and could get home from here. But did she want to just yet?

Slowly she walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, burying her face in her hands. She was a terrible person, both for leading Yang on and for ditching her like she did. But was for the best, it had to be. It may not have been a clean break, but it was a definite one. Checking her phone again, she still had twenty five minutes to kill, but she had nothing to do. She could maybe check if Pyrrha was in, but Weiss suspected that conversation would not go too well, given Pyrrha’s history with Yang.

Shift be damned, she needed advice on this. Scrolling through her sparse contact list, she tapped Winter’s name and held the phone up to her ear as the other end rang. A few seconds later, there was an answer.

“Weiss? What’s wrong? Winter’s worried voice came through the speaker. “Do you need me to come get you?” There was muffled sounds in the background, the scraping of chairs and other conversations.

“No, I don’t. Winter, I’m sorry. I messed up, I messed up really badly.”

“Did someone find out about you?” Winter’s voice dropped to a low whisper and the muffled conversations faded out as it sounded like Winter was moving somewhere quieter.

“No, no. Not that.” Somehow, people finding out she wasn’t exactly alive seemed like a simpler problem to solve than this. “I really hurt one of my housemates and I don’t know what to do about it!”

“Is she still breathing? Any broken bones.”

“No, not physically. Emotionally.” There was a long sigh on the other end of the line.

“Weiss, please don’t tell me you called me during my shift to tell me you hurt one of your housemate’s feelings.”

“I didn’t.” Weiss squirmed awkwardly, so engrossed in her conversation she didn’t notice the group of young men wandering through the park towards her. “I called to ask for advice about what to do about the fact that I hurt one of my housemate’s feelings.” Another long, exasperated sigh.

“Weiss...”

“I’m sorry, WInter, but I have no idea what to do about this and you’re the only person I can ask.” Weiss implored pitifully and Winter groaned. Weiss heard something which sounded suspiciously like her sister’s head smacking against a wall. “I should just go and-.”

“No, Weiss, it’s fine. I’m your big sister, you should be able to rely on me. Give me a second to talk to Ironwood.” The line fell silent save for the sound of footsteps and a door opening, Winter’s voice sounding far away as she spoke to someone. “Sir, would you mind if I finished a little early today? I’ve got more than enough leave accrued and I’ve finished all my tasks for today.” Weiss couldn’t hear the response, but it must have been an affirmative as Winter was back on the line within a minute.

“Alright, Weiss, what happened?”

“Right, my housemate, Yang, who you didn’t meet-.”

“Yang Xiao Long. Age: 20. Birthday: 6th January 1997. Daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long and Raven Branwen. Good student, A* in Mathematics, A in Further Mathematics, A in Physics...” Winter interrupted, rattling out the information as though it was a military briefing.

“Winter! I said no background checks!” Weiss reprimanded her sister, only to receive an unapologetic hum.

“Did you really think I was going to let my only sister  _ who happens to be a ghost  _ live with a group of people I know nothing about?”

“I thought you’d respect my wishes and not perform background checks on my friends.” Weiss groaned, rubbing at the bridge of her nose in exasperation. “Never mind, it’s done now. So, Yang is… interested in me. Romantically.” Silence from Winter, so Weiss continued.

“She’s been flirting with me and I’ve been, um, flirting back.” A soft whine came from the phone. “And know, I know, it was a terrible idea, but in my defence she is really pretty and nobody’s liked me like that before.” Winter didn’t answer, so Weiss ploughed on. “So I decided to do the right thing and break it off with Yang and tell her under no circumstances can we date or anything. And I ran away without even giving her an explanation, real or fake. She’s been calling and messaging me non-stop for hours.”

Weiss waited anxiously for Winter to reply and eventually was rewarded by a long suffering groan. “Oh my God, Weiss. What on earth were you thinking?! First you entered into some kind of pseudo-relationship with this girl where you flirt with each other, despite you knowing it was a bad idea. And then when you decided to break it off, you didn’t even explain!? Not to mention you’ve been avoiding her for hours!” Another, less exasperated groan this time.

“I suppose the one good thing is that you didn’t admit to her that you’re dead. Then this would be completely unsalvageable.”

“So what do I do?” Weiss asked in distress.

“Where are you right now?” Winter asked, her voice slipping into a more business-like tone.

“I’m at the park near the house.”

“Are you safe? It’s getting dark out.”

“I’ll go back in a bit.” Weiss reassured her sister, too eager to hear her advice to bother going somewhere safer. “So what should I do?”

“First, you’re going to call Yang and tell her you’re safe and that you’ll talk to her back at you house. Then you actually go back to the house and you fucking talk to her. Don’t tell her you’re really a ghost or anything, just make something up. Say your father is homophobic and that’s why you can’t date or something. I mean, he is, I still remember how much of a disaster introducing him to Robyn, but at least it’s a reason.”

“So I should say that?”

“If you think she’ll buy it as a good enough reason to no longer pursue you, then sure. But from what I’ve read about this girl, I get the impression she’s a lot more tenacious than she appears.”

“And just to be sure, you agree with me that this ‘pseudo-relationship’ is a bad idea, right?” Weiss asked, a small part of her hoping that Winter would disagree.

“Of course I do. Weiss, you’re a ghost! It would never work!” 

"Y-You're right. I let this dalliance go on for too long." Weiss mumbled pitifully. "I just wish things could be different. I do really like her, Winter."

Winter sighed after Weiss' words of resignation. “I’m sorry, Weiss. I’m sorry that your chance to be you and have a meaningful romantic relationship came after you died. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you before.”

”You’re here now, Winter, that’s what matters. And thank you for supporting me and helping me through this difficult time in my post-life.” Winter snorted with laughter at Weiss’ last words.

“I’m glad to help, Weiss. Now, call Yang and make sure you get home safely.”

“I will. Thank you again Winter, I’ll speak with you soon.”

“Goodbye, Weiss.” Winter told her sister and hung up, leaving Weiss with the dial tone until she too hung up. Steeling herself, Weiss scrolled through her contacts again, down to the last one on the list. As her finger hovered over the call button, however, she was interrupted by a shout.

“Finally done yapping, are you?” Weiss looked up to see a group of young men, led by a muscular redhead sauntering over to her. “Mind telling us what a pretty lady like yourself is doing out here all alone?” Maybe Winter had a point about it getting dark out and being concerned for her safety. She did not like the smug grins on their faces, nor the way they loomed over her.

“Nothing that concerns you.” She answered shortly, tucking away her phone and shuffling along the bench to stand up, but found her way blocked by the ringleader.

“Now, that’s not very nice.” He said in a saccharine tone, to the sniggers of his compatriots. “We’re only being polite and making sure you’re safe. Me and my buddies here are doing a public service here by giving beautiful young ladies like yourself a place to go in the evenings.” God, he was slimy, that awful smirk across his face like he’d just performed the smoothest come-on.

“Not. Interested.” Weiss gritted out, considering just jumping over the back of the bench and making a run for it. Before she could fully formulate her plan, a hand landed heavily on the back of the bench, blocking her in further.

“Aww, well that’s too bad, ‘cause we’re  _ very  _ interested in you, sweetheart.” A round of chuckles and Weiss felt even more uneasy, she was so focused on the slimy ringleader she barely noticed the tendrils of frost creeping out from where she touched the bench.

“Leave me alone!” Ice edged her voice, cracking through the quiet night air and, much to her surprise, the whole group took a few steps back, their hair standing on end. Not questioning her good fortune, Weiss leaped to her feet and made a break for it, running towards the house.

She only made it a few feet before a hand latched onto her wrist, pulling her short. “We aren’t done yet.” The redhead snarled, spinning Weiss around to face him, his eyes widening in surprise and flicking down to his hand. “Wow, you are a literal frigid bitch, aren’t you?”

“Let me go.” Weiss’ words crackled with frost. The ringleader began to shiver as his breath started to mist. She could easily become incorporeal and slip out of his grasp like she’d done with Yang earlier, but now it was the principle of the matter, and Weiss was angry.

“What’s going on?” He was starting to look a little worried, but he still held firm as something started to thrum in the air, and his compatriots started to look nervous as well.

“Now!” Weiss’ shriek rent the air and with it, unleashing the energy that had been building up around them into a howling blizzard. The redhead screeched in agony and released his grip on Weiss, but it was too late for his hand, which had blackened and seized up. Weiss didn’t care, however. How many other women had this scum cornered and coerced? How many had he hurt?

“What the fuck?!” He shouted, cradling his injured hand to his chest as he looked at It in terror, his friends having already fled the blizzard. It did not answer, righteous rage still coursing through It interspersed with flashes of something.

Fear.

Desperation.

Terror.

It was exhilarating, to see those emotions mirrored on his face as he turned and staggered away. It could pursue and end his worthless existence. But vengeance had been extracted, satiating Its thirst.

Slowly, the freezing wind died down leaving a perfect circle of frost encrusted grass centered on It. Weiss blinked and shook her head, trying to clear it of the fog that had suddenly descended.

What the fuck had happened? Where had those men gone?She looked around dazedly and noticed something on the ground. Crouching down to inspect it properly, she was horrified to find it was a blackened frozen finger. She stumbled backwards. God, she felt like she was going to be sick, but there was nothing to bring up. Scrambling away from the frozen digit, she made a break for it, back towards the house. 

“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck?” She chanted as she flew through the park and down the road that led to Pyrrha’s house. The last thing she remembered was that redhead grabbing her wrist and then nothing. Flashes of memory flitted through her mind, howling winds and a bitter cold like she hadn’t felt since she’d died.

Down the road, past Pyrrha’s house, round the corner and up the road to her house, she didn’t slow down until she reached the front door, where she pulled her keys out of her pocket and slipped them into the lock with trembling fingers. Turning the key, she opened the door and stepped in, only to have something slam into her midriff. If she still had breath, it certainly would have been knocked out of her by the impact.

“Weiss! You’re back! Oh my God, when Yang told us you ran off we were all so worried about you!” Ruby squealed, hauling Weiss into the living room, kicking the door shut behind them. “Yang and the others are all out looking for you. I would be too, but they needed someone to stay here in case you came back, and you did!”

Ruby shoved Weiss onto a sofa and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contact list. “You stay right there whilst I call the others.” She jabbed at one of the names on the list and raised the phone to her ear.

“Yang? Yes, I know, but she’s here! Weiss came back. No, she’s not hurt, or at least she doesn’t look like it.” Ruby turned to scrutinise Weiss. “Are you hurt, Weiss?” The dead girl shook her head, she was perfectly fine, though the same couldn’t be said for the young man that finger belonged to. She wasn’t sure what unnerved her more, that she’d almost certainly been the one who froze that finger off or that she couldn’t remember doing it.

“She’s fine. You should start heading back, I’ll call the others. Maybe not Blake though, I think that one should be left to you. Okay, bye, Sis. See ya in a bit!” a quiet beep and the call ended, Ruby tucking away her phone before she turned to Weiss with a frown, arms folded sternly.

“Okay, I’m gonna do this now before I call everyone else because otherwise you won’t be prepared for the absolute shitstorm Blake is gonna rain down on you.” Weiss blinked in surprise at the seriousness in Ruby’s voice. “What the hell were you playing at just ditching Yang right after you told her you couldn’t date?”

“I already told you, Yang and I can’t be together.” Weiss looked away in guilt as Ruby’s glare bored into her.

“I remember, and if you don’t want to tell us why, that’s fine.” Ruby leaned down to ensure she was still in Weiss’ eye line. “But you don’t just break my sister’s heart like that and run away without a word.” Ruby groaned, wandering over to the other sofa and flopping down on it.

“I shouldn’t really tell you this, but Yang’s had a lot of bad break ups and people leaving her. She’s been doing better recently, but what you did this afternoon, I wouldn’t be surprised if you just wrecked months of progress.”

I’m sorry…” Weiss mumbled, gaze now firmly fixed on the floor. She wasn’t sure she could feel any lower than she did right now. She'd been so wrapped in herself and her own upset, she hadn't considered just how badly she'd hurt Yang. Her upset mingled with shock, who on Earth would want to leave someone as brilliant and bright as Yang?

“I’m not the one you should be apologising to.” Ruby said shortly, and Weiss nodded, still not looking up. She heard Ruby’s phone buzz and the shuffling as it was pulled out. “Blake and Yang are crashing at Coco’s tonight, they’ll be back in the morning. Yang somehow managed to persuade Blake not to come straight back and tear you, like, twenty new ones.” The brunette sighed. Weiss dared to take a glance at her and saw Ruby sprawled out haphazardly, phone dropping to the floor.

“I don’t know why she’s doing this for you. If it were me, I’d still let Blake at ya. I’d stop her eventually, but ya know.” Ruby groaned and rubbed at her face. “She must really like you.”

“I don’t know why, especially after what I did.” Weiss muttered despondently, though her heart swelled at the thought of Yang still caring for her.

“I don’t either. I’ve never seen Yang like this. It’s weird, like she’s drawn to you or some shit.” Ruby crawled to her feet, taking her phone with her. “I’m gonna go lie down, it’s been a stressful afternoon and I need some time with Penny.” As Ruby made her way to her room, Weiss had one question that was causing her some anxiety.

“Is Blake really that protective of Yang?” She asked nervously, not looking forward to the next morning and the oncoming ‘shitstorm’.

“Blake and Yang are… close. Blood sisters, they call it. They might even be closer than me and Yang.” Ruby gave Weiss an almost pitying look, but it was somewhat marred by anger as well. “They protect each other, and they take that oath  _ very  _ seriously.” Ruby continued back to their room, calling over her shoulder. “Good luck for tomorrow, you’ll need it.”

Weiss stayed sat on the sofa for another few minutes, before finally getting up and returning to her room. Retrieving a now slightly damp Snuffles from her desk, Weiss lay down on her bed and let herself decorporealise. It had started out as such a promising day. She was not looking forward to tomorrow at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weiss is not in for a good morning at all. But hopefully she'll make it out with her secrets intact. I wonder why Blake is so protective of Yang though? What could have caused that I wonder? And what's with Weiss and these new powers? Hopefully freezing Cardin's hand won't come back to bite her in the ass.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being the cutest.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

“Weiss! Get up, we need to talk.” The ghostly girl in question was jolted out of her doze by a loud hammering on her door and Blake calling for her. Groaning, she floated upright and glanced at the clock she’d hung on her bare walls. 6:33 in the morning?! Why was Blake here so early? Closing her eyes and concentrating, she felt the familiar feeling of solidity cascade through her and she dropped the couple of inches to the floor with a soft thump.

Steeling herself, Weiss walked over to the door and unlocked it, only to be pushed roughly out of the way by Blake, who stormed in, shutting and locking the door behind her. Once that was done, she fixed Weiss with a baleful expression.

“So, care to explain what happened yesterday?” She asked, arms folded as she leaned up against the door in a very obvious show of dominance.

“What is there to explain? I ended things with Yang before they even started and then ran away.” Weiss answered, folding her arms and refusing to meet Blake’s gaze.

“I want to know why you’d run away and hurt Yang like that? What, were you scared of having to deal with the consequences?”

“No I-.”

“Or are you just that callous, playing with someone’s heart only to throw it away when you got bored?”

“No, I-” Weiss tried to protest again, frost beginning to creep out from her feet across the carpet.

“Then what, Weiss?!”

“I don’t know!” She shrieked and Blake broke out into gooseflesh as the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. “I don’t know why I did that. It was all so fast and confusing.” If she still breathed, Weiss would be panting after the explosive outburst, instead however, she collapsed onto her bed and buried her face in her hands. There was a loud sigh of frustration from the door and Weiss felt the bed shift beneath her as Blake dropped down beside her.

“I’m sorry, just… just try to calm down.” She told Weiss, a little sheepishly, and her voice shaking from the sudden chill. “Start from the beginning. What exactly happened with Yang outside the pub?”

Without the wild accusations, Weiss felt a bit calmer as she tried to get her thoughts in order, raising her head from her hands to speak properly. “I told Yang that we can’t date, and the look on her face... I just felt awful. Like I’d been stringing her along and I’d just broken her heart or something, and I was scared or something, I still don’t really know. All I knew was that I couldn’t stay, so I ran.”

“Yang said she offered to talk it out with you, yet you still ran.” Blake pointed out, her shivering having ceased by now, though thankfully her anger did not seem to have returned.

“I wasn’t thinking straight. I’d already let myself get in too deep and I had to break it off before I did something we’d both regret. I don’t think I could have said no again if I’d stayed.”

“So why didn’t you stay? You clearly want her.” Weiss couldn’t help but stare at Blake in astonishment.

“You were shouting at me earlier for breaking things off with Yang, now you want us together?” Blake blinked owlishly, thinking over her next words.

“I was angry because you upset her and ran away without a proper explanation, not because you ended whatever you two are calling your relationship.” She explained, each word sounding very carefully chosen.

“Yang and I have been through a lot together. We protect each other. And sometimes I can take it a little far when it comes to people hurting her.” Blake ran her hands through her dark tresses distractedly, brow creasing as she did so. “I went too far with the shouting, and I’m sorry for that, but I will never be sorry for protecting Yang.”

“I understand, and thank you for apologising, but I’m not sure why you’d still want Yang and I together.” Weiss was still rather by Blake’s change of heart on the matter.

“I don’t, not right now at least. You hurt her badly and I don’t trust you enough yet not to do it again.” She sighed deeply, rubbing at her temples. “Ugh, I don’t know what I want. It’s not up to me whether you and Yang date, but I’m compelled to make sure she’s safe and happy.”

With a huff of irritation, she got to her feet and started pacing the small room, muttering under her breath. Weiss couldn’t quite make out what Blake was muttering about, but she could have sworn she caught the words ‘goddamn vague blood oath,’ but before she could ask what Blake meant by that, the dark haired girl turned back to face Weiss.

“Well, you came back, so at least you’ve realised that you can’t run from this forever. Wish I’d known that two years ago, but that’s beside the point. You’re going to talk this out with Yang like an adult.  _ Actually _ talk to her, and none of that ‘it’s complicated’ nonsense either. Then we can resolve this and move on. You two can date or whatever you want and hopefully I won’t have to intervene like this again.”

Blake let out a deep sigh of relief after finishing her mini-speech, letting her shoulders slump before drawing herself back up to look at Weiss. “So, why can’t you and Yang date?”

“I thought you said I should talk this out with Yang?” Weiss protested, her heart sinking at the prospect of having to come up with a lie on the spot.

“And you will, but in the interest of you not hurting her any more, I’m going to help you work out what you’re going to say to her. So what’s the reason?” This did not sound like the magnanimous offer Blake was making it out to be.

“It’s com-.” Weiss tried, but was cut off quickly by Blake.

“No, I already told you, none of that nonsense. You’re a good person and I trust you do have a good reason.” Weiss racked her brain for an answer whilst Blake waited expectantly. Well, Winter had given her a suggestion last evening, she might as well try it.

“It’s… my father.” She began, hastily filling in the blanks in her head as she went. “He’s, to put it bluntly, a raging homophobe.” Blake said nothing, instead she hummed in sympathy and inclined her head to indicate Weiss should continue.

“He’s not in the picture any more, at least not directly. I ran away from home a year ago and have been staying with my sister ever since. I changed my name and dropped out of Atlas to come here, as far away from him as I could get.” Nothing Weiss said was untrue, she had heard somewhere that the best lies were ones based in truth. But now came the biggest stretch.

“But… I’m afraid. I’m scared he’ll find me, and what’ll happen when he does. To me and to Yang.” Weiss knew for a fact Jacques Schnee didn’t give a shit what had happened to her. Winter would still call Mother every now and then, to make sure she was alright and hadn’t completely destroyed her liver yet. From what her sister reported back to her, Father had apparently been briefly irritated his heir had seemingly run off, but had quickly calmed down and named Whitley as heir without much fuss.

Winter had actually been suspicious of just how well their father had taken Weiss’ disappearance and, whilst Weiss certainly wouldn’t put a good old-fashioned murder past him, he complete lack of memories of her demise meant they couldn’t conclusively prove he was behind it. Not to mention, of course, that ghosts couldn’t exactly act as witnesses for their own deaths.

“Would he really be that bad?” Blake asked, though from the look in her eye, it was more of a perfunctory question, and Weiss got the impression she knew first hand just how bad people could be about this.

“Five years ago, Winter brought her girlfriend and her girlfriend’s girlfriend round on Christmas Day. The day ended with the Christmas tree set on fire, several broken sets of china, three black eyes and my sister disinherited. He’s also had her blacklisted from employment at pretty much every company in the private sector and more than a few in the government. If she didn’t have her military scholarship, she’d be unemployed for life.”

Blake’s eyes had steadily grown wider and wider as Weiss recounted her father’s retribution against her sister. After Weiss finished, she remained silent for a minute or so before finally finding her voice again.

“I’ll level with you, I was expecting him to have been violent, but not all of that. He seriously had your sister professionally blacklisted?!” Weiss nodded awkwardly, remembering the overheard phone calls to Jacques’ various business partners and the copious threats. “I can definitely understand why you’re afraid of him finding out about you and Yang. Is that a likely scenario though?”

“I don’t know. No matter how far I go, his shadow will always hang over me.” Weiss hung her head, knowing that if Jacques had actually cared he would go to any lengths to get her back under his thumb.

“I see. It does beg the question though, why didn’t you tell Yang this? You just explained it to me pretty succinctly.” Blake asked shrewdly, scrutinising Weiss who couldn’t help but squirm in place. She wasn’t sure if Blake actually believed her half-lie or not.

“I… I didn’t want to scare her off. And I was enjoying myself too much, even though I knew I had to break it off with her.”

“Yang does have that sort of effect on people.” Blake admitted, an embarrassed grin crossing her face. “She makes you feel like the most important person in the world.” Weiss nodded in agreement, it was a fairly accurate description of how Yang made her feel, though it didn’t quite cover everything. Although it did spark a glimmer of curiosity in Weiss’ mind.

“Did… Did you and Yang used to date?” She asked tentatively and Blake started a little, blushing as she did so.

“We, err…” 

“Sorry, that was intrusive, you don’t have to answer.” Weiss hastily followed up, waving her hands wildly.

“No, no. It’s fine.” Blake reassured Weiss, hand reaching back to scratch at the back of her head awkwardly. “Yang and I did date for a little while back in first year. We broke up after about a month. She was too nice for me. I wanted someone with a little… bite to them.” Blake’s gaze dropped as they frowned unhappily. “At least I thought I did. Don’t really know what I want these days.”

“I’m sorry…” Weiss wasn’t sure what else she could say or do except apologise which Blake waved off.

“It’s fine,  _ I’m  _ fine.” the dark-haired girl insisted, a little forcefully. “Or I will be. Last year was… stressful, and I don’t want to go into details. Anyway, this conversation has gotten off track and I’m hungry now. Why don’t we go downstairs, get some breakfast and wait for Yang to realise I left early.”

“Wait, you didn’t come with Yang?”

“No, I snuck out early because otherwise she’d come with me and stop us from having this chat.” Blake smirked at Weiss’ annoyed expression.

“Of course.”

“Yep, and now I want cereal.” Blake offered a hand to Weiss, which she took and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. “You should also maybe turn up the temperature in this room. I got a massive chill a little earlier, and it can’t do you any good, since you’ve already got poor circulation.”

“Yes, I’ll do that later.” Weiss lied. One of the first things she’d done was turn off the radiator completely. As she followed Blake to the door, a thought occurred to her. “I do have one question though. Ruby said you were going to ‘rain down a shitstorm’ on me or something, but that conversation was positively pleasant, initial shouting aside.”

Blake blinked in confusion for a moment, a frown creasing her forehead. “I don’t know why Ruby would think I’d do that…” Still frowning, she headed downstairs with Weiss trailing after her as she continued to mutter to herself. “She did see me that one time after Yang’s drink nearly got spiked, and the time that guy tried to grope her. But surely she knows those were isolated incidents.”

Shaking her head, Blake walked into the kitchen, pulled out a box of cereal, walked back into the living room and collapsed on the couch, eating handfuls of cereal. “You want some?” She shook the box at Weiss, but she shook her head, a little disgusted by Blake’s lack of table manners.

“No, thanks, I’m not hungry.” Blake shrugged and pulled out another handful of cereal.

“Suit yourself.” They sat in silence for a few moments before Blake spoke up again. “So, something that’s been bothering me a little. How come your father was able to blacklist your sister from so many companies?” Weiss hesitated in answering, she was more than a little reticent about telling anyone exactly who her father was lest they look into it and discover the disappeared Schnee child was named Wilhelm.

“He has... connections, let’s say. I’m not comfortable with sharing exactly who he is. I spent a long time getting away from him.”

“Valid, it’s your prerogative, after all. Maybe don’t mention it to Nora when you eventually meet her though. She’ll pester you until you tell her so she can go and break his legs.” Once again Weiss was flabbergasted at how casually her new friends would talk about violence and crime. It was a little concerning, to say the least.

“She what?!”

“Oh yeah, she’d do it too. She’s got this unshakeable sense of justice and is very willing to use violence to enforce it.”

“Not that I don’t think my father doesn’t deserve some kind of retribution, especially after what he did to Winter, Robyn and Fiona, especially Fiona. I’m still rather reluctant to advocate for violence against him.”

“Well, it’s your decision.” Weiss winced as Blake spoke around a mouthful of cereal. She was about to ask Blake to get a bowl or something when the front door flew open and Yang came rushing in, a look of panic on her face as she started pounding on her sister’s room door.

“Ruby! Blake snuck out early and I think she’s going to shout at Weiss for hurting me and we need to stop her!” She called out, still hammering on the door, clearly not noticing the two sat together perfectly calmly in the living room. A moment later, however, the door opened and a bleary-eyed tousle-haired Ruby poked her head out.

“Yaaaaaang, Penny and I were snuggling.”

“I’m sorry, but we need to stop Blake or she’ll scare Weiss off!” Ruby frowned up at her sister, then turned her head to look at the pair watching the whole affair from the living room.

“Yang, they’re right there.” She said flatly, the blonde’s head snapping round to see if it was true. “And Weiss doesn’t look too worse for wear. Weird.” She shrugged, before returning her attention to Yang. “If that’s all, I’m gonna go back to snuggling with Penny.” Without waiting for an answer, the younger girl’s head disappeared back into the room the door closing behind her and Weiss could hear a muffled apology to someone from behind it.

“Weiss, you’re still here.” Her attention was pulled back to Yang who entered the living room properly and was giving her an anxious look, as though she was about to vanish again. “I thought Blake would have scared you off with her whole scary shouting thing.”

“There was some shouting.” Weiss admitted, shooting Blake a look.

“I went a little overboard and I apologised for it afterwards.” She shrugged, took another handful of cereal and offered it to Yang, who refused it with a head shake.

“That you did.” Weiss returned her attention to Yang after her acknowledgement of Blake’s apology. “And we had a talk about what happened yesterday, and we need to talk about it too.”

“Oh, right, yes.” Yang seemed rather stunned that this was happening, but obediently followed Weiss back upstairs, Blake giving her a brief thumbs up before returning to her cereal.

“Um, would you prefer to do this in my room or yours?” Weiss asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

“Um, can we use my room, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course not.” Weiss stepped aside to allow Yang to unlock her room door and lead the way inside. Thankfully the array of space heaters wasn’t on and Yang made no move to turn them on either, instead seating herself on her bed. Weiss hesitated for a moment, unsure of where to sit. She didn’t want to stand and loom over Yang as she explained herself. She puzzled over this for a few moments before Yang patted the bed on her right side, and Weiss accepted the invitation to sit.

“I’m sorry, Yang.” She began, eyes locked on her folded hands in her lap. “I am so so sorry for not giving you a reason why I was ending things and for running away and worrying you.”

“It’s fine, people leave me all the time. I’m used to it by now, it’s fine.” Yang murmured sadly, sending a jolt of anger through Weiss.

“It’s not fine!” She insisted, taking Yang’s hand firmly and looking into the blonde’s unfairly gorgeous lavender eyes. “And I promise I won’t ever leave you like that again.” She knew she shouldn’t make promises like that she wasn’t sure if she could keep, but if she’d fought through death itself to achieve her goals, she could do this for Yang.

“Then why did you yesterday?” There was still some worry and anxiety in Yang’s tone, though Weiss thought she could hear a note of hope in it as well, a theory that was backed up by the blonde squeezing her hand gently. Well it was time to put her lies to the test.

“I was scared if I stayed, I wouldn’t be able say no again.” Yang looked at her curiously, so Weiss elaborated. “I should probably explain from the start. I broke things off because of my father.” Understanding flooded Yang’s face, before it was replaced with sympathy and worry. “He’s incredibly homophobic, and if he found out about us, I don’t know what he’d do, but to say it wouldn’t be pretty would be an understatement.”

“Has he ever hurt you?” There was a dangerous edge to Yang’s voice now and Weiss could swear she saw something red flickering in those lavender eyes.

“No, not me, but my sister and one of her metamours.” At a low growl from Yang, Weiss hastily added. “But he doesn’t know I’m here. I ran away from home and changed my name, but… I’m still scared he might track me down and what he’d do to you.” A knot of guilt was forming in her stomach. She hated lying like this to Yang, but she had no other option.

No other option except to tell her the truth. Weiss hastily quashed that rebellious thought. It was a ridiculous notion and one that would end up with her locked up in a lab somewhere and poked and prodded for the rest of her unlife.

“What he’d do to me? What about what he might do to you?!” Yang looked at her incredulously.

“That doesn’t matter. I don’t think I could live with myself if you got hurt because of me.” Weiss had to stifle a snort at her choice of words, and that even if her father did find out about her, there was nothing he could do to hurt her. “That’s why I had to break things off with you. I should have from the very start, but I got swept away because you’re so amazing, you’re gorgeous and kind and you make me feel like I’m wanted.”

Extolling all of Yang’s virtues was not helping her resolve one bit, nor was the blush that spread across Yang’s cheeks. A huge part of Weiss was screaming for her to beg for forgiveness and to take her back, insisting she couldn’t continue without that flirtatious smile or that wonderful burning Yang brought. But she had to remain strong, she could do this.

“I’m sorry, Yang. For stringing you along like I did.” However, Yang shook her head, rejecting the apology.

“It wasn’t on purpose and you weren’t trying to hurt me. It just happened. I think I got swept away with it too.” Yang grinned a little sheepishly, not seeming to notice how her thumb traced maddening patterns across the back of Weiss’ hand. “You’re so very sweet and beautiful, not to mention charming. What was it you said? I make you feel wanted? You make me feel the same way.”

Was it just Weiss, or was Yang’s face moving closer to hers? She could feel the burning hot breath cascading across her lips as she too approached. It would be so easy to close that dwindling gap and let Yang’s burning touch consume her.

But she couldn’t.

Reluctantly, regretfully, she pulled back from Yang, as the blonde blinked open her eyes in confusion. “Yang, I’m sorry. But we can’t.” Sadly, Yang nodded as Weiss got to her feet.

“I know.”

“In previous life, maybe.” Weiss said, and with those words left hanging in between them, she walked out of the room, somehow feeling even worse than she had yesterday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Yang and Weiss, things may have been resolved, but they aren't really happy about it. Don't worry though, things will get better, have some faith. Also a little more backstory and some stuff about Winter and her polycule and how awful her dad is, he certainly sounds like a good candidate for the cause of Weiss demise. Assuming of course that she was murdered, but who knows...
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being such an adorable cutie. Thanks also to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9

On the surface, everything between Weiss and Yang seemed to be the same. They’d chat in the common areas and Yang continued to teach Weiss how to cook food she’d never eat. But to Weiss, it felt like everything had changed, like there was a yawning chasm separating the pair. She could sense every time Yang reached out for a causal touch, only to stop herself and withdraw.

No matter how much she told herself it was for the better, Weiss couldn’t help but feel that something vital had been torn away from her. It completely baffled Weiss. She’d only known Yang for a little over a week, yet she seemed to have become such an intrinsic part of Weiss’ unlife, it was like she was always meant to be a part of it.

Unfortunately, Weiss’ slightly disturbing attachment to Yang wasn’t the only she had to deal with. Now that the immediate problem of her and Yang’s relationship had been resolved, Weiss was now free to worry about the young man whose fingers she’d accidentally frozen off. She spent a lot of time scanning through various news and social media sites for any mention of her or the man she’d injured.

Once or twice she’d considered asking Winter for help. With her connections and mysterious governmental powers she could easily find the victim and ensure any mention of the incident never saw the light of day. But Weiss could never ask Winter for a favour that big. She already did and sacrificed so much for her. If Winter was caught, she could lose the only job she could feasibly get. No, Weiss would have to deal with this herself. How she would do that though was something of a mystery, especially since her search had been proving to be fruitless.

It was a few days after the official start of the semester. The whole house had lectures that morning and had decided to meet up for lunch at one of the less objectionable eateries on campus. Weiss and Ruby had arrived first and the latter was busy devouring a burrito whilst Weiss naturally had nothing and busied herself scrolling through the news on her phone.

“You sure you don’t want anything, Weiss?” Ruby asked through a mouthful of her food and Weiss resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose at the appalling table manners.

“No, thank you, Ruby. I’m fine.”

“If ya say so. It’s not healthy to skip meals though.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Weiss returned to looking through another local news site’s human interest section.

“Hey, girls! How were lectures?” Weiss was jolted out of her search by Yang’s question as the fiery blonde dropped into the seat beside Weiss with her own burrito.

“They’re still just doing course introductions.” Ruby moaned, spraying bits of rice everywhere. “I wanna be let into the labs so I can get my project started.”

“You’ve got all year to work on that Rubes.” Yang drawled, taking a more modest bite of her burrito than her sister and only speaking after swallowing.

“Not that project, Yang. You know, Penny’s new-.”

“Vibrator! Yes, I know.” Yang interrupted hastily, not-so-subtly jerking her head at Weiss. Ruby scowled at her sister, but did not protest the statement that she was using university resources to construct a sex toy for her girlfriend.

“I don’t think I’ve actually met Penny yet.” Weiss mused, hoping to defuse the situation a little. “You and her keep holing yourselves up in your room.”

“Penny’s kinda shy around new people, you get to meet her eventually.” Yang supplied, taking another bite of burrito.

“I look forward to it. From the way Ruby gushes about her, she must be pretty extraordinary.”

“She is though! She’s the most amazing girl I’ve ever met! She’s smart and funny and gorgeous.” Yang and Weiss rolled their eyes fondly at each other as Ruby rhapsodised about her girlfriend. “She has the cutest laugh ever and she doesn’t let anything keep her down.”

“Yes, you’ve said, many times.” Ruby huffed at Yang’s glib remark

“Well, I think you’re just jealous I met her first.”

“You and I both know Penny and I wouldn’t work together. Seems to be a bit of a running theme for me.” Yang’s voice dropped a little as she spoke and Weiss was seized by the urge to reassure her that there was nothing wrong with her, that it was Weiss’ fault that she couldn’t cherish the blonde like she deserved.

Thankfully for Weiss, she was saved from her mad impulse by Blake hustling over looking rather worried. “Yang, we’ve got a bit of a problem.”

“What’s wrong?” Yang snapped into serious mode Weiss had only seen once before when the group had somehow convinced Weiss to join them for the last club night of the freshers’ fair and some guy had been a little too persistent when hitting on Blake.

“I’ll explain on the way.” Blake’s eyes flickered over to Weiss briefly and understanding dawned on Yang’s face.

“Right, I’ll come and help you sort that out.” Yang scarfed down the rest of her burrito and got up to follow Blake. Ruby threw her sister a questioning look but was met with a subtle shake of the head, at which Ruby slumped dejectedly in her seat.

“Anything I can help with?”

“Nah, we’re fine thanks, Weiss.” Yang reassured her already walking away. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“Sure.” Weiss watched the two depart with narrowed eyes. They really were not good at hiding whenever they were about to go do whatever stuff cults did, but them not including Ruby was unusual. After giving the two a minute’s head start, Weiss got up from the table.

“I’ve changed my mind, I think I will get something.” Ruby merely waved her off, not really paying attention, no doubt busy stewing over not being allowed along. Hurriedly, Weiss followed after where Blake and Yang had gone, out of the dining area and along a small corridor that led to one of the campus’ gender neutral toilets.

Weiss hovered nervously around the corner until she heard the door close behind the pair and she slipped up to the door, considering her options. Obviously just walking in was not an option, but she couldn’t just walk through the wall like she usually did, she had her phone on her and she couldn’t decorporealise things that weren’t a part of her. She tried pressing her ear to the door, but couldn’t hear anything through it save for the faint sounds of Blake and Yang talking to each other.

She couldn’t afford to miss this conversation, finally making a decision, Weiss took a few steps to the side of the door and pushed her head through. She thanked her lucky stars that she’d judged the distance correctly and that she was inside one of the cubicles. Pulling her phone out of her pocket and setting it down on the floor, Weiss stepped fully into the toilet cubicle and could now properly hear Blake and Yang’s conversation.

“I’ll make sure we’ve got plenty of salt to line the area. If we’re gonna do this ritual, we’re gonna do it right.” Yang spoke decisively from the other side of the thin partition.

“Then shouldn’t we call Coco about this?”

“Blake, this is our territory, Coco trusts us to look after it.” If Weiss had hoped eavesdropping on the conversation would shed some light on the situation, she’d been sorely mistaken. This talk of rituals made next to no sense, except that it confirmed Yang and Blake were in a cult that sounded like it was led by Coco. Who else other than a cult performed rituals?

“The park is technically Pyrrha and Jaune’s territory.”

“I know, but do you really want to let Jaune near something as potentially volatile as this?” There was silence from Blake that Yang took as agreement with her. “Look, the two of us can handle this just fine.”

“You’re not bringing Ruby along then?”

“I don’t want this to be her first ritual, and she’s technically not part of the Masquerade yet. Besides, she needs to keep an eye on Weiss and make sure she stays away from the park tonight.” Blake snorted derisively.

“It’s only one day and she’s not going to be happy about being stuck with babysitting duty. I still don’t see why you didn’t bring Weiss into the fold when you decided you wanted to date her.”

“You’re starting to sound like Coco. I already told her I like being treated like a normal person for once.” Weiss could hear the irritation bleeding into Yang’s voice as she spoke.

“You think we don’t treat you like you’re normal?”

“You know what I mean.” Silence fell between the two before Blake spoke up again.

“You’re not going to get over her for while, are you?”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get over her. I certainly never properly got over Pyrrha or Neopolitan... or you.” Weiss felt the atmosphere in the small room change, an awkward weight that made Weiss want to flee but she was kept in place by her own curiosity.

“Those were different situations. You and Weiss weren’t even together, you were just dancing around the potential for one.” Blake’s voice had lowered to a mumble and Weiss could imagine her avoiding Yang’s gaze.

“I can’t explain it, it’s not just me catching feelings like I always do. Something about it just feels… deeper, like it’s fated or something. ”

“Weiss seems just miserable about this whole thing as you, if it helps.”

“Not really. Besides, she was probably right to break it off. Even if she didn’t have her dick of a father to contend with, there’s still all the Masquerade stuff on my end to get in the way.” Weiss could swear she heard faint sniffling from one of the two girls and the sound of someone crossing the room.

“I’m sorry, Yang. It’ll be okay, it’ll all be okay.” There was silence for several minutes whilst Weiss felt increasingly uncomfortable at what she’d witnessed.

“We should get back to the others. We’ll conduct the ritual at the park tonight. I’ll get the salt and the books, you sort out the chalk and candles.” Yang finally broke the silence and Blake hummed in agreement. Weiss heard the door to the bathroom open and shut, leaving her alone. Waiting a couple of minutes to ensure Blake and Yang wouldn’t see her, Weiss drifted back through the wall and into the corridor.

This proved to be a big mistake as she also drifted through a girl with bright orange hair who’d just bent over to pick up Weiss’ abandoned phone. The girl bolted upright at the sudden chill of having a ghost pass through her and her eyes widened at the sight of Weiss floating there.

Shit, shit, shit! She needed to act fast, or she’d get caught and locked up in a lab in some government blacksite.

“Foolish mortal, you have disturbed my slumber! Flee before I drain your soul! And leave the phone.” Weiss threatened, waving her hands in the hopes it would scare off the student. What she was not expecting was for the young woman to break out into a wide grin.

“Oh my gods, you’re a ghost! Do you have any idea how rare you guys are? And you’re here at Beacon! Did you die here? No, of course not, I would’ve felt your death happen.” Weiss blinked and lowered her hands, completely nonplussed by the sudden rapid fire speech of the young woman who seemed completely unsurprised by the existence of ghosts.

“Um, what?” She asked but the girl was still chattering away.

“I can’t wait to introduce you to all the others, they’re gonna be so excited to meet you!” The orange haired girl continued to ramble as Weiss continued to look at her in confusion, before she realized she was still floating half a foot above the ground and quickly corporealized, dropping to the floor with a soft thump that caught the babbling girl’s attention, her jaw dropping.

“No. Fucking. Way! You’re corporeal too! Holy shit, how determined are you?!”

“I’m sorry?”

“Ghosts can only move stuff through sheer force of will, duh! I’ve never seen one able to become fully corporeal before.” The girls eyes widened again. “Oh my gods, you didn’t know that, did you? Holy shit, do you not know anything about being an untethered soul?!”

“No?” Weiss answered tentatively, not sure what to make of this conversation. “Can I have my phone back, please?”

“Oh sure, here ya go. Wow you really are good at being solid.” The girl was about to say something else but an alarm started blaring from her watch. “Oh, shit, I’m gonna be late. Okay, this is important, I can explain everything to you later. Come to the Ozma room at eight tomorrow evening, and you’d better be there, or I’ll hunt you down with a proton pack. I gotta run, see ya tomorrow!”

“Wait!” But with a whirl of activity, the girl was gone, bright orange hair vanishing around the corner, with Weiss’ last call to her falling on deaf ears. “I didn’t get your name…” She finished lamely as she was left alone in the corridor.

Grumbling in irritation, Weiss trudged back to the dining area where, the others were seated at the same table she’d left Ruby at. “Hey, Weiss. What did you get?” Ruby asked as she approached the table and Weiss was suddenly reminded of her lie to the younger girl.

“I just had a sandwich and ate it on the way back.” She lied, dropping back into her seat beside Yang. “Ham and cheese, it wasn’t bad.”

“Everyone knows the best sandwich is an all-day breakfast one.” Ruby scoffed, seeming to buy Weiss’ lie. “Especially if it’s hot and smothered in ketchup.”

“Smoked salmon.” Blake didn’t look up from her book as she chipped in her two cents to the discussion.

“You’re both wrong, the best sandwich is a croque madame.” The table turned to Weiss, clearly awaiting her contribution.

“I haven’t actually eaten enough sandwiches to know which is the best, let alone what kind of sandwiches there are.” She said, trying to bow out of the conversation she’d unwittingly started.

“Okay, Weiss, get this. A croque madame is a ham and cheese sandwich, gruyere or some other fancy French cheese usually, with a bechamel sauce. But it’s toasted  _ and  _ you have a fried egg on top. I’ll make you one someday.” Yang gestured with her hands as she explained her sandwich of choice, and Weiss had to admit, that did sound pretty good.

“I would not be opposed to that.” She answered carefully. Yang took it as confirmation that her sandwich was the best and proceeded to brag about it to a huffy Ruby and an indifferent Blake.

“See, Weiss agrees with me! I mean, of course she does, since I’m objectively correct!”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Yang, you win because of course Weiss is gonna take your side.” She grumbled, tearing her burrito wrapper into strips before checking the time and getting up. “I’ve got a lecture now, I’ll see you girls later.” And she left without another word, leaving behind a small pile of shredded wrapper and a crestfallen sister.

“I-I didn’t mean to upset her, I was just teasing.” Weiss hesitated for a fraction of a second before gently patting Yang on the shoulder, trying to ignore the burning sensation that came from it.

“I know you didn’t mean to. You should probably talk to her later.” Yang didn’t acknowledge the touch or Weiss’ words, almost shying away a little from her, so Weiss reluctantly withdrew her hand. Blake watched the interaction over the top of her book with a raised eyebrow, then returned her attention to it, but not before adding.

“You may want to reconsider letting her come with us.” An awkward silence proceeded to fall over the table until Weiss realised she too had a lecture soon. Getting up quietly, she waved her goodbyes to Blake and Yang and left the dining hall, thoroughly disquieted by the series of events.

* * *

Weiss had been camped out in the living room for several hours, waiting for Blake and Yang to leave so she could follow them and find out exactly what this cult was all about. At the very least it gave her something else to think about other than that baffling encounter with that girl outside the toilets. Who was she and how had she known so much about Weiss’ current state of being? She’d known even more than Weiss had, and Weiss had been not-quite-living like this for over a year now.

The encounter had almost given Weiss hope that she could possibly reveal her not-quite-alive nature to the others. Cultists would probably love the opportunity to meet a real-not-exactly-life ghost. Naturally she dismissed the thought after mere moments of contemplation. One fluke encounter did not mean other people would be so accepting and charitable to a dead girl living in their house.

Grumbling, Weiss glared up at the ceiling where Blake’s room was. Ruby had vanished upstairs not that long ago and Weiss was reasonably certain that it was Blake and Yang breaking it to her she was to stay behind and keep Weiss away.

Finally, Weiss heard a door upstairs open and shut and the trooping of three sets of feet down the stairs. Stretching out of habit, Weiss righted herself to greet her housemates as Ruby entered the room first. “Hey Weiss! Blake and Yang are headed out for a bit and I don’t wanna be lonely whilst I do my reading for tomorrow’s lectures. You mind if I stay here?” Weiss could hear the forced cheer in Ruby’s voice as Blake and Yang slipped past her and to the front door, Yang carrying a bulky rucksack.

“Sorry, Ruby, but I was planning on turning in early tonight. It’s been a long day.” Weiss felt a little guilty as she saw genuine disappointment cross Ruby’s face before she shot Yang a questioning look and only got a shrug for an answer.

“Sure. You have a good sleep, Weiss. See ya tomorrow.” The blonde girl called to Weiss before she and Blake left the house, the door closing quietly behind them.

Getting to her feet, Weiss bade Ruby goodnight and climbed the stairs up to her room and waited a few minutes, much like she had at lunch, in order to give Yang and Blake a head start. Satisfied they were probably far enough away, Weiss let herself drift apart and float up into the air and out of her room. She quickly drifted through Yang’s room, unwilling to invade her privacy for longer than necessary.

Once she floated out of the house, however, she felt a deep lurch as she tumbled forward and only just managed to catch herself with her face mere inches from the pavement.

Righting herself, Weiss looked around in confusion. What was that? Taking a moment to investigate once hse was sure there was nobody around to see her, Weiss tried to fly up into the air, but found herself stuck at around a foot and a half off the ground. “You have got to be kidding me, I can’t fly?!” Weiss muttered, letting herself drift down to the ground again. She’d have to add that to the steadily growing list of unexplained ghost things. Deciding that it was dark enough for her to remain incorporeal so long as she stayed close to the ground, Weiss set off in the direction of the park.

After getting lost after running away from Yang, Weiss had taken it upon herself to memorise a map of the local area so it wouldn’t happen again and in doing so had realised there was a more direct way to the park from their house than going via Pyrrha’s.

Drifting along an inch off the ground, Weiss did briefly wonder what exactly she would learn from observing whatever this ritual was. Maybe she’d learn what kind of cult Yang was a part of. Hopefully it was just a harmless one that revered some ancient pagan deity or something and was nothing to worry about. Or alternatively she might be part of one of those cults you sometimes heard about on the news where they take over a sumer camp, brainwash people and then commit mass ritualistic suicide by drinking rat poison laced fruit punch, all whilst singing camp songs.

Weiss was definitely hoping for the former.

Soon enough, she was on the outskirts of the park, and suddenly realised she had no idea how she was going to hide from Blake and Yang in the large empty space. At least until she remembered she could pass through solid objects. Admittedly, she hadn’t tried passing through the ground before, but she couldn’t see any reason why she couldn’t.

Steeling herself, Weiss let herself sink down into the ground until just her head emerged. She always had an odd ghost of a sensation whenever she phased through a solid object, but having it constantly tingling in the back of her head was rather strange. Nonetheless, with her camouflage in place, Weiss proceeded further into the park in search of her housemates.

It didn’t take her long to find Blake alone in the middle of the park, Weiss noticing with a jolt that she was right by the bench she’d sat at a few days ago, when she’d frozen that young man’s fingers off. Yang was nowhere to be seen, however, so Weiss kept low, watching as Blake sketched something out on the path in chalk, adding candles at various points on it. Weiss couldn’t quite get a good angle to see what was being drawn, but before she could emerge from the ground to get a better look, she heard footsteps behind her and she ducked back down as Yang jogged past carrying a canister of salt.

“I’ve salted the perimeter, so we shouldn’t have a problem with her escaping. Once we get started the ring will act as a limiter.” She informed Blake, placing the salt down on the bench. “How’s the sigil going?”

“Nearly done. As far as I can tell, this is the epicentre. I can almost taste the power still lingering.”

“Do you agree now that we shouldn’t have let Jaune in on this? Or brought Ruby?”

“Much as I hate to say it, I do. This won’t be easy.” Blake handed an old book over to Yang, who flipped it open as Blake returned to drawing her ‘sigil’.

“Good thing this isn’t our first rodeo, then. Oh! You remember that time out near the bar?”

“Don’t remind me, my ears wouldn’t stop ringing for days afterwards.” Blake straightened up to survey her work. “And I think I’m done. You got the words?”

“Right here, lemme just light up the candles.” Yang passed the book over to Blake and crouched down by each candle in turn, each one flickering to life as she moved onto the next. Standing back up and surveying her handiwork, Yang spoke. “Whenever you’re ready, Blake.”

Nodding, Blake looked down at the book, squinting a little in the darkness at the words as she began to read them out loud. Weiss did not understand nor recognise the language, but if she had to guess, it sounded vaguely East Asian. But that confusion was nothing compared to the deep lurch she felt the moment Blake started reading. Something was wrong, very very wrong. A deep instinct was screaming at her to flee, but her curiosity was overwhelming.

Then she felt a tug towards the pair, something starting to pull her towards them and the deep wrongness intensified. She needed to leave, now. Whatever was happening here, it was affecting her somehow, and she had an awful feeling something bad would happen if she stayed.

Turning tail, Weiss fled as best she could whilst still remaining out of sight. Once she was sure Blake and Yang would be unable to see her, she floated up out of the ground and recorporealised, she was faster running than floating. The pull on her was getting stronger as she ran towards the edge of the park, but she forced her way through it. The road was just in sight, but as Weiss ran full tilt for it, she suddenly slammed into something right on the edge of the park.

Staggering back, Weiss looked around wildly for what she’d run into, but saw nothing. The insistent tug was growing ever stronger, threatening to pull her back to the middle of the park. Unable to locate whatever she collided with, Weiss tried again, only to find her path was blocked by what felt like an invisible wall. Just wanting to get away as quickly as possible, she didn’t question the presence of an invisible wall and instead let herself drift apart and tried to phase through, only to find her path still blocked.

How could this be happening?! Weiss was starting to panic now. Nothing had been able to stop her from phasing through things before, let alone thin air. Looking around frantically, she eventually looked down and saw the line of salt.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” She shrieked to nobody in particular. Salt! Fucking salt could stop her dead in her tracks?! The pull was starting to get more painful now, she had to get out of this park before she couldn’t resist the pull any more and was sucked to whatever it was Blake and Yang were doing. Did they know about her? Was this what the ritual was all about? No, it couldn’t be, they’d wanted to keep Weiss away from the park. If something as mundane as fucking salt could trap a ghost, why couldn’t some nonsense ritual have some strange effect on them too, since these rules seemed to make no goddamned sense.

Weiss was having to actively move forward in order to counteract the pulling. Whatever it was that awaited her at the end of it, Weiss did not think she wanted to know. She needed to get past this salt somehow. Recorporealising, she tried to kick at it to move it aside, but that proved completely ineffective as her foot bounced off the invisible barrier it created. She couldn’t draw breath anymore, so she couldn’t blow it away, and the night was annoyingly still. She was running out of options and time, she looked around wildly for some item she could use to brush the salt away, but saw nothing.

She refused to be beaten like this. She’d all but conquered death by becoming a ghost and nothing had stopped her before, she was not about to allow a some fucking seasoning defeat her. She was starting to slide backwards, her grip starting to fail her against the inexorable pull. Something deep inside her told her if she couldn’t escape this pull, she’d be gone forever. No one would know what had happened to her, her room would just be empty, no explanation for Blake or Ruby or Winter or Yang for what had happened. She could not let that happen. She would not let it happen.

Weiss didn’t notice the flowing energy starting to swirl around her hands until the wind started to pick up around her and a blizzard suddenly howled into life around her. The winds buffeted the salt and scattered it, leaving a gap in the line. Taking her chance, Weiss ran through the gap and to the right. As the winds died down around her, she stopped trying to resist the pull, praying she was right about her new crazy plan. She was jerked her off her feet, but thankfully she’d been right, as she slammed into the other side of the invisible wall created by the salt.

She prayed to God that the line would hold and that she wouldn’t be crushed by the powerful tugging and pulling. Weiss had never felt such agony before as something tried to draw her very soul in stronger and stronger.

Just as she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, the pull suddenly stopped and Weiss was able to stumble back from the salt barrier. Not wanting to find out if it would happen again, Weiss took off back to the house, thanking God and everything divine being she could think of that she’d managed to escape unscathed. That had been far too close and, although Weiss had initially been on the fence about meeting the crazy orange haired girl the next evening, it was clear there was a lot she didn’t know and desperately needed to about being a ghost that hopefully the strange girl could provide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It must be a rather odd sensation for someone already dead to confront their own mortality once again. That was a very close one for Weiss. Hopefully that strange girl has some answers for her and she won't have any more issues with getting exorcised.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and giving me a fascinating lesson in Fate magic. Thanks also to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	10. Chapter 10

Weiss did not ’sleep’ that night. After sneaking back into the house and discovering that for some reason she was able to fly so long as she was indoors, she’d tried to drift into her fugue state but found she was too unnerved by the events at the park to do so.

She’d always thought she was untouchable now that she was a ghost. If there was any physical barrier or threat to her, she could always just become intangible and let it pass her by like it was nothing. To be honest, she’d actually let it make her more than a little bit reckless.

But salt? Fucking salt could affect her?! She’d had no indication of this being a problem before, she and Yang had used plenty of salt during cooking without any difficulty. There were probably some obscure and stupid rules to how this salt thing worked.

Which of course raised the question of Blake and Yang’s weird ritual. It was too much of a coincidence, it being able to do…  _ something  _ to her and the salt line they’d set up trapping her. Whatever they’d been doing, it clearly had something to do with ghosts. Which then led to the next question: had they been after her specifically?

Floating upright, Weiss began to drift back and forth in a facsimile of pacing. She felt angry, irritated, more than a little nauseous. But above all else, she felt scared. Even when she’d been convinced her housemates were part of a cult, she had the confidence that they couldn’t actually hurt her. A confidence that had been incredibly shaken. She half expected her door to burst open at any moment and for one of them to throw a load of salt at her or something.

No, she was being ridiculous, they couldn’t have been after her. It made no sense for them to have gone all the way to the park when they could just as easily trapped her in the house. And they had been fairly determined to keep her away from the proceedings, enough for them to get Ruby to stay behind and keep an eye on her.

Despite the mild relief that flooded Weiss as she reasoned this out, there was still the unshakeable worry that they clearly knew about ghosts, more than Weiss did, at any rate. Now more than ever she definitely couldn’t let them know about her, they could actually be a danger to her.

It was too risky to stay, much as Weiss didn’t want to admit it, but getting caught could be even more disastrous than she’d ever considered. A small voice at the back of her head tried to assure her that Yang would never do anything to hurt her and that it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but she crushed it down. It was just wishful thinking, brought on by her feelings for the charming blonde.

Although it wasn’t as though Weiss had many options if she did leave. Pretty much the only viable one was to move back in with Winter, but if she did that she’d also have to drop out, which would be the same as admitting defeat. There wouldn’t be any one-bed places left now that the semester had officially started, and this was also completely ignoring her contractual obligation to find a replacement roommate if she were to drop out of the lease.

In short, Weiss was stuck between a rock and a hard place and she had no real idea of what to do about it.

As she pondered her predicament, Weiss heard the front door open and close and the muted sounds of conversation. Weiss hesitated for a moment, she wanted to listen in, find out what exactly had happened, but she’d already been reckless with her abilities today and the fear of getting caught was too great.

Resigning herself to not knowing what was happening, she floated back to her bed and corporealized over it, landing with a thump. Reaching out blindly, she grabbed hold of Snuffles and pulled him to her chest for comfort. She’d briefly considered calling Winter earlier, but had decided against it upon remembering it was her sister’s date night with Robyn. She’d already done enough to disrupt Winter’s love life the past year. 

It really seemed like her only option was to watch and see how things panned out over the next couple of days. In the meantime, it probably wouldn’t hurt to see what that excitable orange-haired girl had to teach her. Maybe she knew how to deal with this infuriating salt problem.

Tossing and turning restlessly, Weiss froze momentarily as she heard two sets of feet climb the stairs. She relaxed a little after she heard them enter their respective rooms and the house fell silent, only to jump in fear as another door downstairs slammed shut. It was going to be a long night.

When Weiss descended the stairs next morning, having spent all night jumping at the slightest creak, she found the others sat around the table, eating their various breakfasts. Both Blake and Yang looked a little put out, although that was nothing compared to how huffy Ruby was as she poured out a bowl of her disgustingly sugary cereal that was more marshmallow than actual cereal.

“Good Morning?” Weiss asked, hovering a little awkwardly to the side of the morose group.

“Morning, Weiss. You want some toast?” Yang offered a plate with some slices that Weiss politely declined. “We’re just a little run down from last night, it got pretty hectic.”

“What were you doing, if you don’t mind me asking?” Weiss settled herself in the remaining chair at the table as Yang took a slice of toast for herself.

“Just running an errand for Coco. Turned out to be a harder job than anticipated and we weren’t able to get it done.” If Weiss hadn’t known exactly what Blake and Yang had been up to last night, she would have believed the story immediately. Yang always had a sort of earnestness about her, which when coupled with her natural charm, made anything she said sound true.

“Oh, I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Do you need a hand with it?” Weiss hoped her residual anxiety and fear from last night wasn’t evident in her voice as she offered her help.

“Nah, Blake and I got it. Thanks, Weiss.” Sagging a little with relief that her gamble had paid off, Weiss noticed that Ruby’s grip on her spoon tightened ever so slightly and she shoveled cereal into her mouth at an even faster pace.

“Oh, Weiss. Before I forget. Blake, Rubes and I are going to be out this evening. Far East Society meeting.”

“Surprised you still want me there.” Ruby muttered darkly into her half-empty bowl.

“Ruby, of course we want you there.” Yang insisted, though Weiss noticed her eyes flicker nervously at her before she continued. “I’m sorry you couldn’t come along last night, but Coco only needed me and Blake.”

“Yeah,  _ Coco  _ only needed the two of you.” Bitterness laced Ruby’s voice as she finished her cereal and drained the bowl. “I guess I’ll see you girls later.” With a sigh of what sounded like regret, Ruby left the table and vanished into her room, leaving her breakfast things behind.

There was a soft whine from Yang as she made a move to get up and follow Ruby, but against Weiss’ better judgement, she laid a hand on Yang’s right arm to stop her. “I think she needs some time alone right now.”

“I don’t know why she’s so upset. It sucks she couldn’t come last night, but I didn’t think she’d be so mad about it.” Yang looked to Blake for help but the dark-haired girl just shrugged.

“Maybe ask her tonight after the meeting?” Was her only suggestion in between bites of salmon bagel.

“Maybe…”

“Well, I hope your meeting goes well. I’ve actually got something this evening too, so don’t be surprised if I’m not here when you get back.”

“Oh? What are you doing?”

“Just meeting up with a… friend. I say friend, we only met yesterday, but we really hit it off.” Weiss was surprised when Yang’s forehead creased and she looked at Weiss with worry.

“You sure it’s safe? If you just met them yesterday and you’re meeting them in the evening.” Truth be told, Weiss didn’t know if it was safe or not, so it was a good thing she wasn’t about to tell the truth.

“It’ll be fine, Yang, but thank you for your concern. We’ll be on campus, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.” The look didn’t go away however as Yang nodded slowly.

“Well, we’re just a call away if you need us.” She got up, having finished her toast and collected the plates and Ruby’s abandoned bowl. “I’ve got a lecture in about half an hour, so I need to get a move on. I’ll see you later, Blake.” Yang vanished into the kitchen briefly before reappearing and heading upstairs, leaving Weiss alone with Blake who finished off her bagel and got up too.

“I’m out all day, so I hope you and your friend have a good time this evening and I’ll see you when I see you.” Blake waved goodbye to Weiss and ascended the stairs as well. Once Weiss was sure she was out of earshot, she groaned and collapsed on the table in relief. She seemed to be in the clear. Now all she had to do was make it through the rest of the day until her meeting that evening.

Weiss had left before her housemates. She was still unfamiliar with the campus and almost immediately got lost in the warren that was the University of Beacon Guild of Students. It was fast approaching eight and Weiss had no idea where the Ozma room was. Growling in frustration as she encountered yet another dead end, Weiss was sorely tempted to just leave and forget the whole thing. But both her curiosity and fear of being hunted down by an amateur ghostbuster kept her going.

Retracing her steps back into the main area of the guild, Weiss walked out into the twilit square where the University’s fountain sat to take a break from the labyrinthine corridors. Weiss wandered over to sit on the edge of the fountain and looked up at the metal statue atop it.

It was an odd design, a woman with her hands held up to the sky and wearing what Yang had described as a belly dancer’s outfit. She didn’t have legs either, her waist just blended smoothly into the rest of the fountain and was surrounded by spouts. Weiss did wonder who approved such a design. As far as she could tell the woman had nothing to do with Beacon University outside of the fountain, she didn’t even know who it was supposed to depict.

Weiss was so distracted by her examination of the fountain she didn’t notice someone had slipped up beside her until a loud voice nearly sent her toppling into the fountain.

“I told you we were meeting in the Ozma room at eight! What time do you call this?” Weiss stifled a shriek and whipped around to see the orange haired girl glaring at her, tapping a finger on her watch. Once she’d regained composure, Weiss scowled at the girl and gotto her feet.

“It’s a fucking maze in there, I couldn’t find it. And besides, aren’t you late too if you’re out here with me?”

“Oh I’m never late, everybody else is merely early.” The girl said imperiously, reaching out and grabbing Weiss’ wrist. “Anyway, you’re late, so let’s go! The others will already be there!” As she tried to pull Weiss into the guild, however, the ghostly girl let herself drift apart for a moment so the orange haired girl ended up stumbling.

“What other people?”

“I said I was gonna introduce you, didn’t I?”

“But who are they?” Weiss asked, folding her arms stubbornly.

“People like you, like us, of course! So come on!” Realising she probably wasn’t going to get anywhere with this girl, Weiss reluctantly followed her back into the building, though she very pointedly kept her arms crossed to stop the orange-haired girl from grabbing her again. It took some effort to keep up with the orange-haired girl’s long strides as she led the way along a few corridors then up several flights of stairs Weiss hadn’t yet been up.

“What do you mean ‘like us’? Are you a ghost too?” Weiss asked as she jogged along beside the girl.

“What?! Don’t be silly! I’m not a ghost, I did kinda die though, ‘bout a thousand years ago, give or take a decade or two.” Weiss was amazed by how nonchalant this girl was about having died. Then again, if it had been a thousand years ago, the novelty and shock of it had probably worn off by now. “How, ‘bout you? When did you kick the bucket?”

“Approximately fourteen months ago.” The girl drew a sharp intake of breath between her teeth.

“Ooh, that’s not long at all, no wonder you know basically nothing. Don't worry though, we'll help you out." The girl came to a halt outside a door with a battered plaque labelling it as the Ozma room.

"You'll help me out? You don't know who I am and I don't even know your name!" Weiss exclaimed, glaring at the now obnoxiously grinning girl.

"Oh you can introduce yourself to everybody in a sec. And I'm Nora! Nice to meetcha!" Nora… But wasn't that…? Without waiting for an answer from Weiss, Nora threw open the door and marched into the room and Weiss heard a familiar raised voice emanating from within.

"His fingers were frozen off! Clearly she was too dangerous to let Jaune near her!" It couldn't be, it just couldn't. Weiss followed Nora into the room, and sure enough, stood in front of Coco and arguing with Pyrrha was Yang. Blake and Ruby were sat off in a corner and hadn't noticed Weiss and Nora enter until Nora called out to the room.

"Hey! I've got us a new member!" Everyone in the room turned their eyes to the newcomers and several jaws dropped.

"Weiss!? What are you doing here?" Yang's voice was strangled as she took a step towards Weiss. "Wait, new member?"

"Wait wait wait.  _ This  _ is Weiss?! The girl who ran away last week and you said was really cute?" Weiss should run. This was possibly her worst nightmare, she was being outed to Yang and the others. She should go far, far away, but her legs refused to move. “Why the fuck didn’t you say she’s a ghost?!”

Yang had been about to say something else but the words died on her lips as she, Blake and Ruby all stared at Weiss in shock. Then the silence was broken by a soft chuckling, which eventually broke into loud laughter. Everyone in the room slowly turned to look at Coco who was doubled up and wiping at her eyes under her sunglasses.

“Oh my gods, I had so many ideas of how this would happen, but getting caught out by Nora of all people and brought here without anyone knowing what was going on? It’s fucking priceless!” She continued laughing until Velvet appeared by her side and jabbed her hard in the ribs.

“Coco, you knew?!” Yang finally managed to choke out whilst Weiss had a minor panic about the fact that Coco had somehow known about her for what seemed to be quite some time.

“Of course I did, it’s so fucking obvious! I knew from the moment I shook her hand last week!”

“You did?” Weiss’ voice was faint, but everyone in the room heard her and turned to face her, making Weiss quail under their collective gaze.

“Weiss, sweetie, I say this with as much love as I can muster for someone I’ve only met once. Your hands are fucking freezing. Like seriously, cold as the grave and I should know, since I’ve been buried in a few.”

“I just thought she had poor circulation…” Ruby mumbled and Blake nodded in agreement, which earned her a withering stare from Coco.

“Blake, I’m especially ashamed of you. You’re supposed to have super hearing or some shit. _So_ _how could you not hear that she has no heartbeat?!_ ”

“It’s not like I go round listening to everyone’s heartbeats, that’d be creepy.” Blake muttered defensively. “And you know how many sounds I hear all the time? It’s enough effort filtering through all the background noise, let alone focusing on one sound that I pretty much assumed was already there!”

“Yeah, and she’s corporeal!” Ruby spoke up in defence of her friend. “Penny can barely move a pencil.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll give you that one. But that’s probably because we’ve got ourselves a bonafide yuki-onna on our hands.” Weiss blinked in confusion as the room drew a collective breath.

“What? What does that mean?!” Weiss could feel panic rising, what was wrong with her?

“It’s Japanese, it translates to ‘snow-woman’. Yuki-onna are normally women who died in blizzards, though a few other cases have been noted where all that was needed was death from exposure or hypothermia, and usually whilst experiencing rage or anguish or some other very strong negative emotion.” Coco explained, looking appraisingly at Weiss, who was so confused she just said the first thing that came to mind.

“But I’m German, not Japanese.” Nora snorted beside her.

“You don’t have to be Japanese to be a yuki-onna, silly. Just die under the right conditions and be really fucking mad when you do so.” She shrugged, but Weiss wasn’t done.

“And how do you know this? Yang, what have you got to do with this? I knew you were lying about the ‘Far East Society’, but I never expected this. I thought you were in a cult or something!” Coco snorted before stepping forward into the centre of the room.

“I suppose Nora didn’t tell you much when she invited you here, she’s kinda shit at explaining things.”

“I wanted it to be a surpriiiiise!”

“Anyway, we know so much about you because we are like you. Not exactly, mind, but I’d hope you’d have deduced by now that we aren’t all human. We’re what you might call a collective of various supernatural beings who live around Beacon University, both to attend and to ensure the general public in the area remain unaware of the existence of our kind, and I would like to invite you to join us.” Coco swept into a theatrical bow, doffing her beret as she did so.

“Welcome to the Black Masquerade.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the impromptu hiatus, but I'm back now, fully refreshed and ready to write!
> 
> Well everything is finally out in the open now, I wonder how Weiss and Yang are going to cope with this new knowledge. Also points to people who realised it was Nora not Penny who found out about Weiss. She did swear after all and Penny is a sweet girl who would never say anything stronger than a gosh darn it. Oh and more points for people who guessed that Weiss is a yuki-onna, I'm playing a little fast and loose with some of the mythology surrounding them and blending it with more Western ideas about ghosts.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFicitionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being my rock, I love you. Thanks too to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and actually getting me to relax during the hiatus.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

It took Weiss a few moments to process Coco’s grandiose speech. As she did so, Coco replaced her beret and flashed a self-satisfied grin at Velvet, who rolled her eyes.

“You get that out of your system?” She snarked, walking over to her girlfriend.

“Hey, it’s been ages since I got to do that. Last time was with Jaune, and he wasn’t appropriately awed.” Pouting, Coco turned back to Weiss, gesturing as she did so. “See, Weiss here is appropriately awed.” By this point, Weiss regained the power of speech and looked wildly between the room’s other occupants.

“ _ This  _ is the Black Masquerade?!” Weiss’ shocked outburst caused Coco to wilt a little and Nora to snort in laughter

“So much for being appropriately awed.” Yang, meanwhile, gaped at Weiss.

“You knew about the Masquerade?”

“Okay, firstly, the three of you are terrible liars. It’s an admirable quality, but not very helpful in this situation. Secondly, I may have been spying on you because you were all being so suspicious.”

“But if you were, Blake would have noticed.”

“I can walk through walls and float, Yang. If I don’t want to be heard, I won’t be.”

“Oh, yeah…” Yang rubbed at the back of her head sheepishly. “Wait, why did you think we were a cult?”

“You’re called the Black Masquerade, what else was I supposed to think, once I established you weren’t some kind of metal band?” Weiss turned her attention briefly back to Coco. “Why are you called that anyway?”

Coco let out a bark of laughter and wrapped an arm around Velvet. “We’re the Black Masquerade because this nerd here never left her emo phase behind.”

“They’re going to reunite, Coco!” Velvet pouted, folding her arms and looking away, cheeks flushing.

“Sure they will, babe.” Coco chuckled indulgently, reaching up to plant a soft kiss on Velvet’s cheek.

“I hate to interrupt, lovely as it is to have a new member, could we perhaps finish the dispute before we induct her?” Pyrrha piped up, drawing a quiet groan from Coco.

“Fine, fine.” Coco grumbled, beckoning Yang back to the front. “Let’s get this over with quickly. Remind me what the dispute was?”

“Yang and Blake tried to banish a malevolent spirit on my territory without informing me or Jaune, or asking for permission.”

“Yang, please explain yourself.”

“Blake and I got wind of a rumour of the ghost of a girl haunting the park. We found evidence that one Cardin Winchester lost several of his fingers due to frostbite thanks to this spirit.” A large uncomfortable weight dropped in Weiss’ stomach. “Blake and I decided to act quickly and were afraid other people might get hurt if we didn’t act fast.”

“Well, why didn’t you inform us? The park is our territory.” Pyrrha insisted as she glared at Yang, hackles raising in warning.

“Do you honestly think Jaune is ready to perform a ritual like that? We hoped we could get it done quickly, no harm no foul, but we discovered evidence of the salt circle being disturbed and we’re pretty sure the ritual failed.” The weight in Weiss’ stomach grew only heavier.

“So what you’re saying is that we’ve got an angry ghost wandering my territory because you failed to do things properly.” Pyrrha growled, baring her teeth at Yang. “Do you have any idea how much of a problem you’ve just caused?” Weiss couldn’t stay silent anymore, it was her fault Yang was in trouble. She had to own up to it, even if it meant she was going to be banished like they’d said.

“Um, actually I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that ghost.” She spoke up timidly and shrank down under the collective gaze of everyone in the room.

“How do you know that, Weiss?” Yang asked in concern as comprehension dawned in Pyrrha’s eyes.

“She’s a yuki-onna, Yang. She’s the ghost in the park.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Weiss squeaked, prepared to phase out of existence and flee if necessary. “It was an accident! He and his friends surrounded me and wouldn’t leave me alone, and I tried to run but he grabbed me, and I don’t know what happened after that!” Weiss’ voice increased to a wail and frost started to creep out from where her feet touched the floor.

Looking around the room in a panic, she was even more distressed to see an expression of horrified shock on Ruby’s face. Everyone was staring at her, and she couldn’t see a friendly face among them. She didn’t notice as the temperature in the room dropped several degrees as the frost gathering at her feet continued to spread across the carpet.

“Weiss, Weiss! It’s okay, it’s okay.” The panicking girl suddenly found herself enveloped in a burning embrace and Yang pulled her into a tight hug. The heat rolling off Yang threatened to evaporate her, but it also gave her something to focus on, and after a few moments, the intense burning had lessened to a comforting warmth. “Everything’s going to be fine, I promise. It’s not your fault.”

“You do?” Weiss mumbled, not fully aware of where her face was buried. Pure relief flooded through her as the previously chilled room returned to normal. Yang was there for her, even after everything Weiss had done to her, she was still there.

“I do.” Weiss felt a soft stroking through her hair and she nuzzled further into Yang, enjoying the sensation. “I always wondered what product you used to make your hair smell so good.”

“I don’t smell of anything anymore.”

“Yeah, you do, your hair smells like the first frost of winter. It’s gorgeous.” Weiss let out a small whine of both happiness and embarrassment at Yang’s compliment and was about to respond in kind when a loud coughing sounded nearby.

“I hate to interrupt this very heartwarming moment, but we’re kind of in the middle of something.” Coco drawled out as both Weiss and Yang jumped apart a little, blood rushing to the latter’s face whilst Weiss remained as pale as ever.

“You’re not banishing Weiss. No way.” Yang said firmly once she’d gotten over the shock of being interrupted, planting herself firmly in between Weiss and Coco.

“Uhhh, did I say we were?” Coco looked over at Velvet questioningly and received a head shake in confirmation.

“B-But the boy whose fingers I froze off…” Weiss mumbled, pulling back close to Yang for comfort as Coco snorted in derision.

“From what I’ve heard of Mister Winchester, he was in sore need of a lesson in not harassing women.” There was a sharp noise of disapproval from Velvet as she elbowed Coco in the side.

“Coco! Just because he was a fucking tool doesn’t mean he deserved that! We’re not blaming you though, Weiss.” She added quickly, seeing Weiss pull into Yang’s back. “We’ve all lost control of our powers and done things we didn’t mean to. Well, not me or Blake, but that doesn’t matter right now.” Velvet carefully approached the pair, hands raised. “You’re one of us now, Weiss, and we protect our own.”

“I feel we’re getting off track again.” Pyrrha interrupted, a predatory gleam flashing in her eyes, which Velvet flinched from minutely before glaring back. “Glad as I am not to have a rogue spirit loose on my territory, can we please return to the matter of Yang overstepping her boundaries? Then we can welcome the new member.”

“Fine, fine.” Coco grumbled, stepping up again “Yang, Pyrrha’s right, the park is her and Jaune’s territory and you should have told her or me about this.” There was a happy growl from Pyrrha as the leader of this strange congregation agreed with her. Honestly, Weiss was surprised she hadn’t fled in fear yet. It was a lot to take in and still more things were happening.

“Blake, you too. You agreed to this.” The dark-haired girl who’d been sitting quietly and observing the events nodded, shame written across her face. “I’m going to let you both off with a warning for now though. If I hear you two, or anyone else here for that matter, are going behind each others’ backs, I’m going to have to start suspending people, and that is the last thing I want to do. We need to work together if we’re going to hang onto this place and infighting isn’t going to help. Is everyone clear?”

There was a smattering of approval from around the room. Yang in particular seemed relieved that she was getting off lightly, whilst Pyrrha looked displeased, but seemed to swallow her irritation and put on a happy smile. 

“Good. Now, can we put this unpleasantness behind us and welcome the new member properly?”

“I never said I wanted to join…” Weiss spoke up tentatively, regaining some of her confidence now that the argument was over.

“Weiss, why wouldn’t you? We can help you.”

“I don’t even really know who or what any of you are!” The weight of the last several minutes started to come crashing down on her. On top of everything that had happened the previous night with the banishing ritual, it was all too much to process. “I-I need some air.”

Ignoring Nora’s cry about her not needing to breathe anymore, Weiss broke away from Yang and headed for the nearest window, letting her keys and phone drop to the floor as she became incorporeal and floated out of the room.

In her haste to flee the room, Weiss hadn’t quite paid attention to how high up she was and she lurched and tumbled out of the air, coming to a halt a couple of inches above the ground. Righting herself and looking around cautiously and was surprised to see she was back in the fountain square.

Slumping and becoming corporeal again, Weiss walked over to the fountain as she’d done earlier and seated herself at its base. She could hardly believe it. Blake, Ruby… and Yang. They were all like her, she wasn’t the only one. However, her joy at no longer being quite so alone, at having people other than Winter she could talk to and actually understand her, was overwhelmed by other feelings. Namely those of fear, horror and, oddly enough, nausea.

Oh God, they had been trying to banish her last night. They hadn’t known it was her, but she’d still been the target. Weiss was sure that if she could still breathe, she’d be hyperventilating right now. And they weren’t even treating this with any kind of seriousness! The curtain had just been pulled back for Weiss, exposing her to a far wider, and frankly, far scarier world than she could have imagined, and the others were just treating it like it was any other Thursday night.

It had taken Weiss and Winter weeks if not months to come to terms with the fact that there did seem to be life after death. And now she was just expected to join up with this Black Masquerade as though it was nothing?! Groaning in frustration, Weiss buried her face in her hands. What the fuck was she supposed to do now?

“Um, you okay there?” An unfamiliar voice spoke from overhead and Weiss looked up to see a young man with long unkempt blonde hair standing a respectful distance away. “You look kinda upset.”

“I kind of am. The last couple of days have been pretty rough and tonight was sort of the icing on the cake.”

“I’m sorry, do you want to talk about it?” Shaking her head, Weiss chuckled softly.

“It’s nice of you to offer, but it’s complicated, more than a little personal, and we’re practically strangers.”

“We don’t have to be. Strangers, that is.” The young man stuck out his hand. “I’m Jaune!” Weiss blinked dumbly up at Jaune. It couldn’t be a coincidence, that name was far too odd for it to be anyone else.

“Jaune? As in Pyrrha’s boyfriend, Jaune?”

“Yes, do you know her?”

“I was just with her up in the Ozma room.” Weiss gestured in the vague direction of the room she’d fallen out of.

“Oh! So you’re a member of the,” Jaune looked around briefly before speaking in a hushed voice. “Black Masquerade, then?”

“Not quite, though everyone there certainly wants me to join.” Weiss mumbled as Jaune walked over and sat down beside her, giving her a look of confusion as he did so.

“Don’t you want to? I mean, Pyrrha told me she was thrilled when they invited her. She said it was great to finally have people like her who were her age she could talk to, and not just her parents.”

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty new to the whole ‘the supernatural is real’ thing. And they’re all talking about things like they’re not at all important and I just don’t really know how to deal with all of this.”

“Oh, I see, I see.” Jaune nodded in understanding. “I was in your position about a year ago after Pyrrha bit me. Yeah, pretty much all of them were born into this, so they don’t quite get how big of a thing this is to normal people who are just being introduced to it. Was Coco being especially flippant?” Weiss nodded silently, giving Jaune a closer look once he’d mentioned being bitten by Pyrrha. Sure enough, beneath that concerned front lay the same predatory gleam she had as well, though it did seem muted in comparison.

“She likes to do that whenever things get remotely serious, I think it’s a coping mechanism to deal with the leadership she never really wanted among her other issues. But she won’t let me use her for one of my studies, so that’s by the by.”

Running a hand through his hair, jaune turned to face Weiss. “I get that it’s difficult to process and it’s a lot at first, but you will get past it. And that lot up there, despite their somewhat lackadaisical approach to the whole affair, will help you through it. They helped me a lot back when I joined anyway.”

Talking to Jaune was actually helping Weiss calm down a little. True, there was still the underlying unease about the attempted banishing, but she did feel at least a little better about associating herself with the group.

“Thanks, Jaune. I think I needed that.”

“Hey, it’s no problem, always happy to help.” The pair got up and Weiss extended a hand.

“Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself properly. I’m Weiss.”

“Oh, you’re Yang’s new housemate! Pyrrha mentioned the three of you went running together a couple of weeks ago.” He took the hand and shook it firmly, but pulled away a little fast and shook his hand to try to restore the feeling in his fingers. “Wow, with a temperature like that, no way you’re a freshly minted werewolf. Did Coco sire you? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“I don’t know what that means, but no, Coco had nothing to do with me or my present state of being.”

“Then uh, what are you?”

“Perhaps it’s easier if I show you.” Weiss closed her eyes and let herself drift apart, hovering up a couple of inches off the ground. Opening her eyes, Weiss watched as Jaune’s jaw dropped.

“No way! You’re a ghost? But you’re so solid!” He paused for a moment and sniffed at the air. “You don’t smell of anything, how did I miss that?”

“Yes, well, missing things about me seems to be a running theme with your lot.” Weiss smirked, floating back toward where she left the building. “I’ll see you up there.”

“See you in a bit.” He called back, and Weiss heard him walk towards the main entrance whilst she made her way to the wall and stepped inside. Willing herself to float up through the wall, Weiss eventually reached the right floor and stepped back into the room.

“Weiss?” Yang had been sitting in a nearby chair, looking incredibly forlorn, but she perked up when she saw Weiss re-renter. She got up to approach her, but halted partway, looking a little unsure. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, I am, thank you.” Weiss let herself become corporeal again and walked over to the blonde, taking her hand and giving it a soft squeeze. “I had a chat with someone, it helped clear my head a little.” The worries about the attempted exorcism still whirled in her head, but she stomped them down for now. “Can we talk later though? After the meeting.”

“Of course.” Yang gave Weiss a smile, , which the shorter girl returned softly as Coco stepped forward, clearing her throat a little.

“So, Weiss. You decided if you want to join then?”

“Yes, I’m in. Is there a membership form I need to fill out or something?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Weissy, it's been a lot to process but she's getting there. Jaune is such a good friend even to people he barely knows.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and always having my back. Thanks too to [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being so good to me.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	12. Chapter 12

Once the laughter had died down and Weiss’ non-existent blush had faded, Coco addressed Weiss. “We’re not that formal here. We aren’t even an official uni society, so no forms to sign.”

“Oh, right...” Giving it even the smallest amount of thought, it was obvious they wouldn’t be an official university society, and Coco definitely did not seem to be the sort who would make forms for fun.

“Yeah, we do stuff the old-fashioned way here. Our word is our bond. First rule you should learn, be careful when making promises to people in our world. There are a few who are less scrupulous, who’d manipulate your words, and the consequences for breaking your word can be… severe.”

“... Is it too late to back out?” Weiss asked nervously, not liking how ominous Coco made these consequences sound.

“Don’t worry. Coco’s being dramatic, again.” Yang reassured her, squeezing Weiss’ hand as Coco huffed. “You’ll be fine, your… condition means you can’t accidentally make a blood oath, and that’s the dangerous one. Oh, and whatever you do, do not accept any deal from a girl named Neopolitan without talking to one of us first. Don’t shake her hand either.”

Nodding dumbly, Weiss tried to remember all this new information. “It’s a lot to take in, but you’ll get it soon enough.” Coco told Weiss, extending a hand to her. “But we can go over those details later. We should introduce ourselves properly now that you’re officially part of our little cabal. Coco Adel, she/her, reluctant leader of this motley crew and resident vampire.”

Weiss eyes widened, her grip on Coco’s hand slackening as she cast her gaze over her. Coco smiled widely, exposing her pearly white teeth, which Weiss now noticed were sharper than she’d first thought. “Y-You’re a vampire?”

“That’s right, darling. Got bitten a few years back and been a bloodsucker ever since.”

“But you walk out in daylight!” Weiss blurted out in confusion before covering up her mouth in embarrassment as Coco chuckled.

“And you can pick stuff up despite being a ghost. Not all the stories about us are entirely accurate. The sun won’t burn me up, but my eyes are pretty sensitive to the light. That’s what these babies are for.” Coco tapped the side of her sunglasses. “Anyway, enough about me.” With a tug, Coco guided Weiss away from Yang’s side and over to her girlfriend.

“Meet my better half. Velvs?” Rolling her eyes at her girlfriend, Velvet took Weiss’ hand gently.

“Don’t mind Coco. Velvet Scarlatina, she/her and I’m a Faunus.”

“Sorry, a what?” Reaching up, Velvet unwrapped the scarves coiled around the top of her head and Weiss’ jaw dropped as a large pair of rabbit ears unfurled.

“We’re pretty much human, just a few extra bits that make us a little bit beastly and more of an affinity for magic.” Velvet shrugged, beginning to shuffle a little awkwardly as Weiss continued to gawk at her ears until Coco finally spoke up.

“Yes, they’re as soft as they look, but Velvs gets embarrassed, so maybe stop staring at them?”

“Sorry!”

“It’s okay, I’m used to it. You’re doing better than Jaune on his first day, he tried to touch them without asking me or Coco permission.”

“Speaking of the pup, where is he?” Coco looked over at Pyrrha, who shrugged.

“He said he’d be running late.”

“Actually, I ran into him out in the courtyard. He should probably be here any moment-” Weiss was interrupted by the door slamming open and a slightly out-of-breath Jaune staggered in.

“Sorry I’m late, got lost again. Hey, Weiss.” He waved a weak greeting at the ghostly girl before noticing Pyrrha stood to the side. “Pyr!” All his previous exhaustion forgotten, Jaune threw himself at Pyrrha, who wasn’t even staggered as his full body weight crashed into her and he began nipping and nuzzling at her neck. “I missed you!”

Weiss averted her eyes from the amorous display, as did several of the others, and Nora hollered at the pair. “Get a fucking room!”

“Okay, Jaune. That’s enough.” There was an honest to goodness whine from the couple and when Weiss looked back, it was to see Jaune looking rather put out as he was forced to detach himself from Pyrrha.

“But I haven’t seen you all day.” He pouted up at his girlfriend, who tousled his hair, somehow making it even messier than before.

“I missed you too, Wolfie. I’ll make it up to you later, but we’ve got a new member induct right now.”

“Fine…” Jaune grumbled, but gave Weiss a sheepish smile. “Hi again, Weiss. I’m Jaune, he/him or she/her, it depends on the day, but I’ll let you know which pronouns to use in the group chat.”

“You have a group chat?” Weiss looked to Coco who just shrugged.

“Why wouldn’t we? It means we can all keep in touch. Yang can add you later. Can we speed this along a little though? This whole thing has taken longer than I hoped and we’ve got some other business that needs taking care of.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Relax, it’s a big thing. We haven’t had a new member since Jaune joined up last year.” Weiss could have sworn she heard an irritated huff from somewhere behind her, but she wasn’t sure who it came from as she allowed Coco to steer her away from Pyrrha and Jaune and over to where Ren and Nora were talking, Nora rocking restlessly on a chair as she did so.

“Ren’s our token human. Nothing special about him whatsoever, but he’s a dab hand at alchemistry, as it turns out.”

“You know I hate that word, Coco.” Ren intoned dryly and Nora scowled.

“I’m the one who came up with it, therefore, you have to like it.”

“No I don’t.”

“Rude! Anyway, Hi! I’m Nora, didn’t actually introduce myself to ya before.”

“Nora’s our resident powerhouse. She’s an ex-valkyrie, but don’t let the ex part fool ya. She’s still got enough divine might to kick the shit out of all of us without breaking a sweat.” Nodding vigorously along with Coco’s explanation, Nora fixed the vampire with an accusatory look.

“And don’t you forget it, Adel! I still haven’t forgotten about that prank with the wetsuit and the spaghetti.”

“You have no proof that was me!”

“Of course it was you, no one else here is fucking stupid enough to try and pull a prank on me!”

“Can we please not get into this again?” Rubbing at his temples in exhaustion, Ren interrupted the argument, shooting baleful glares at the two arguing girls. “You’ve been having this argument for months now and you’re not making a good impression on Weiss.”

“Sorry, Ren-Ren.”

“Please don’t call me that.” Nora pouted at Ren, whose expression remained impassive.

“Fine, we’ll discuss this later, Valkyrie.” She glared at Nora through her sunglasses before leading Weiss back over to Yang, finding that Blake and Ruby had joined her. “I’m sure you four can get properly reacquainted later, I’ve got some important shit that needs saying. And I think that’s everyone… Oh!” Coco slapped a palm to her forehead and pointed to Ruby. “Rubes, where’s Penny? She’d probably be ecstatic to meet another ghost.”

“She’s busy tonight, but I bet she’d be thrilled.” Weiss wasn’t entirely sure, but she thought she heard a slight bite to Ruby’s words as she spoke, though nobody else seemed to notice.

“Shame. Anyway let’s wrap this thing up. I’m in dire need of blood and bunny snuggles.” Coco finally released Weiss and swanned into the middle of the room as the ghostly girl moved to stand beside Yang.

“D-Does she take blood from you?”

“What? No! Feeding’s kind of a big thing for Coco, she won’t take blood from anyone other than Velvet. Why do you think she wears all those scarves around her neck as well as her ears?”

“Isn’t that dangerous? What if she takes too much? And it must be painful for Velvet.”

“Coco’s very careful about not overfeeding. She loves Velvet and doesn’t want to hurt her badly. Besides, from what Coco’s told me, Velvet  _ really  _ likes being fed on.” It took a moment for Weiss to register Yang’s meaning and she was sure if she could still blush her face would have lit up. She was saved from having to answer, however, by Coco clapping loudly to get everybody’s attention.

“Yo! I think I’ve taken up enough of our night, but I got something I need to tell you all before we fuck off for the evening.” Tapping her foot impatiently, Coco waited for the small conversations to die down before continuing. “So, over the summer, whilst most of you were gone, the council started getting a lot more pushy about me joining and annexing our territory.”

All at once the atmosphere in the room changed, tension crackling in the air, and Weiss looked around in confusion. Who the hell were the council? Whatever they were, judging from Yang’s reaction and the waves of heat now rolling off her, they did not sound like good news.

“Sending messages and missives and fancy shit. Naturally, I shredded it all, but I doubt they’re going to stop there. They might quiet down a little now you lot are all back, but be on your guard and keep an eye out for council activity. We fought hard to carve out this territory where we could all be safe and I’m sure as shit not going to let a bunch of ancient vampiric pricks take it from us without a fight.”

It wasn’t the most inspiring speech, but there were a couple of cheers from Nora, who stopped rather quickly and pouted when no one else joined her. “I think that’s it. See y’all same time next week.” Slowly, the assembled young adults started to disperse, Pyrrha and Jaune both waving friendly goodbyes to Weiss as they left. Coco and Velvet were next to depart, but Weiss caught them before they could, needing to ask Coco something.

“Is it alright if I tell my sister about this? No details or anything, just that the Masquerade exists and you’re all here to support each other. It would be a real weight off her mind.”

“I suppose she’s aware of you being not-so-alive?”

“She’s been helping me adjust for the last year.” Coco looked mildly impressed.

“She must really love you to help you through all that.”

“She’s the best sister I could ask for.” Weiss said simply, shrugging as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, which it was.

“Yeah, go ahead and tell her. Just make sure she knows not to spread it around. We are supposed to be a secret society after all, something I think some of us could use a reminder of.” She shot pointed looks at Yang and the others. “Anyway, it’s getting late, so I’ll see you around.” With a mock salute, Coco wrapped an arm around Velvet’s waist and waltzed out the room.

“It was nice to meet you properly, Weiss.” Ren intoned as he was dragged past by an over-enthusiastic Nora.

“Yeah, I’d love to stay and chat, but I need me some loving from my Renny!”

“Please don’t call me that either.” The young man groaned, but allowed himself to be hauled out of the room.

“Is she always so…?” Weiss asked of the remaining three, unable to quite come up with a word to describe Nora’s behaviour.

“Pretty much. Nora’s very open about her and Ren’s sex life. She can get rather… graphic in her descriptions sometimes. That was tame by comparison.”

“I can see why you thought I’d be overwhelmed by her.”

“She can be a lot.” Yang admitted scratching at the back of her head. “But she’s a good and loyal friend.” Weiss nodded as Ruby spoke up.

“We going home then?”

“Actually, would you and Blake mind going ahead? Weiss and I have some things we need to talk about.” For a moment, Weiss thought Ruby was about to protest as something flashed in her eyes, but then she nodded and marched out of the room, Blake following after her and mouthing ‘good luck’ to Yang as she went.

“So… All this supernatural stuff is real, then.” Weiss started awkwardly, unsure how to begin things.

“Yeah, it is.” Yang shuffled nervously on the spot, hand grasping her bicep. “I’m sorry!” She suddenly blurted out.

“Sorry for what?” Weiss asked, rather taken aback by the suddenness of Yang’s outburst.

“For not telling you about me, about the Masquerade.”

“Yang, if you’re apologising for that, then I should be apologising for not telling you I’m dead.” Weiss deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at the taller woman.

“You were in a more vulnerable position than me, the circumstances were different and-.” Yang tried to argue, but Weiss was having none of it.

“And nothing. We both didn’t tell each other about this for very good reasons, so there’s no need for either of us to apologise and let’s leave it at that.” She put down firmly, daring Yang to protest which thankfully she didn’t. “I take it you’ve known about this whole thing for a while, then?”

“Since I was born, actually. Me, Rubes and Blake have always been straddling the line between the supernatural and normalcy.”

“What are you, then? If it’s not rude to ask, that is.”

“Nah, it’s cool. I’m an ifrit, the Xiao Long family have been for generations on generations. We’re basically descended from demons who decided Earth was a pretty neat place to live and stuck around. The demon blood kinda overwrites humanness, so the line keeps progressing.”

“I take it then that heat I feel coming off you all the time is to do with you being an ifrit?”

“Yeah, we’re essentially beings of fire, and now I feel really dumb for not realising you’re a yuki-onna sooner.”

“How come?”

“You’re cold, like, so cold I can feel it. I was kinda so caught up in that feeling I didn’t question it all that much. I just thought it was kinda weird, ya know?”

“I probably should have thought more about why standing near you was like being next to a furnace. But you’re right about getting caught up in the feeling. Being around you is… intoxicating. I can actually feel something in your presence after being numb for so long. It’s one of the reasons I took so long to break things off with you.”

A curious look crossed Yang’s face as she tilted her head a little and was quickly replaced with growing horror. “Hold on… You said your father had hurt your sister’s girlfriend before, does that mean he…?”

“No. He didn’t kill me, or at least I don’t know if he did. I can’t actually remember how I died.” Weiss frowned. It hadn’t really bothered her before, but now that she knew a little more about the circumstances of her death, the possibility she’d been murdered seemed to be fast approaching a certainty.

“That’s not surprising. Dying is traumatic, and even if you haven’t got all the chemistry, your brain still works like it did when you were alive and will block out particularly traumatising memories.” Yang fiddled with her sleeve a little, an odd expression on her face. “So when you said you ran away from home, you meant that you died, didn’t you?”

“I did, and I lied about my father possibly coming after me. From what Winter’s told me, he couldn’t care less about my disappearance. I only told you that because it was more believable than the real reason we couldn’t date.”

“Which was...?” Something almost hopeful entered Yang’s voice.

“I’m dead, Yang. I doubt I could have maintained the facade of life for very long if we were dating properly.”

“But that’s not really a problem anymore, is it?”

“Yang, even though we know about each other, it doesn’t change the fact that there are still several issues with us dating.”

“Like what?” Yang looked genuinely confused as to what the problem was.

“I’m dead, Yang. I’m not even corporeal most of the time. How am I supposed to give you a full relationship when my default state is untouchable.” 

“It doesn’t stop Ruby and Penny. And do you really think that it’s not even worth trying because of that?” Weiss’ resolve was crumbling. She wanted Yang so much her heart ached.

“I…” Fidgeting uncomfortably, Weiss avoided Yang’s determined gaze.

“Weiss, I’ve wanted you ever since I first laid eyes on you in the kitchen.” Yang confessed. “Please, can we at least give it a try?”

This could all end in disaster, just like all of Weiss’ previous relationships and, from the sound of it, several of Yang’s. But as Weiss looked back and met Yang’s earnest gaze, she knew there’d only been one answer.

“Yes, I want to try.” There was a stifled shout of glee from Yang as she nearly punched the air.

“I promise, Weiss, we can make this work.” Yang’s joyous expression suddenly turned bashful as she thought of something. “Can I… Would you mind if I kissed you?” Weiss’ eyes flickered to Yang’s lips for the briefest of moments before returning to meet Yang’s gaze evenly with a small smile. Then she leaned up on tip toe to gently press a soft kiss to Yang’s lips.

It was wonderful. It was exquisite. It was pure agony and Weiss loved every moment of it. From the moment their lips connected, Weiss could feel the heat that emanated from Yang concentrate into a searing burn that centered on where their lips met. It was eating away at her, threatening to tear away her physical form. Instead of letting it, however, Weiss poured more of herself into the kiss, fighting off the burn and letting it mingle with her own chill aura, forcing it to a manageable burn that still felt oh so good.

After only a few seconds, they broke apart, Yang panting for breath as though she’d just run a marathon and Weiss was shocked to see little tendrils of frost snaking across Yang’s face before they melted away.

“That was… Wow!” She said, a little dazedly.

“Yeah.” Yang panted, shaking her head a little to clear it. “Amazing. We should definitely be doing more often.” She grinned radiantly at Weiss. “I think we’ve spent enough time here though, we should catch up with Blake and Ruby.”

Nodding in agreement, Weiss offered a hand, which Yang took, her smile widening even further as the two departed the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! They're back together! I guess that means all we've got left is fluff right and no major conflict things still to go. _Hides large folder of plans_
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and keeping me sane during this lockdown. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being such a cutie.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning, Weiss was raised from her fugue by a loud clattering from somewhere in the house. Floating blearily out of bed and dropping to the floor, she made her way out of her room and downstairs. It quickly became apparent that the noises were coming from Ruby’s room, and now that she was closer, she could hear the sounds of power tools emanating from behind the brunette’s door.

It was far far too early for Weiss to question what on Earth Ruby was up to, so instead she went about making breakfast, still trying to shake the daze from her not-quite-sleep. She wasn’t normally this befuddled in the morning, but it had been a while since she’d gone into her fugue, what with her worries about getting caught by salt and the mental exhaustion had caught up with her. 

Such strange dreams she’d had during that one too. She’d dreamed that somehow Coco was a vampire or something and that all her friends were like her, and that she’d kissed Yang and it had burned like the sun. Weiss let out a humourless laugh at her wishful thinking as she retrieved one of her bowls and poured her cornflakes in. It had felt so real, but it had to have been a dream if she’d kissed Yang, something she’d been dreaming of for what felt like ages.

The others had expressed confusion that Weiss would eat such cheap cereal, and indeed, if she actually were eating them, she’d agree. But since she was just throwing them away the moment none of her housemates were looking, the cheap and nasty store brand was easier on the wallet. Pulling open the fridge, Weiss extracted the bottle of milk and added a splash to the bowl as she heard someone coming down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Morning, Weiss. You get woken up by Ruby too?” Blake spoke from behind Weiss as the ghost screwed the cap back on to the bottle. Before she could answer, however, Blake continued, bafflement clear in her voice. “Um, why are you making cereal?”

“Because I wanted to have breakfast?” Weiss replied, her hazy thoughts preventing her from working out why Blake would ask such a strange question.

“But you can’t eat.” Weiss froze halfway through turning back to the fridge as she let out a high pitched fake laugh.

“Of course I eat, everyone eats, you need to eat to stay alive.”

“Weiss, can you look at me?” Blake asked, sounding as though she was talking through her hand. Completing her turn, both Weiss’ jaw and the milk bottle dropped. Blake’s hand was indeed covering her mouth as she stifled laughter but that wasn’t what had shocked Weiss. That prize went to the two cat ears perched on Blake’s head and the long swishing tail poking out the back of her sweats.

“Y-You-” Weiss stammered out, eyes flicking between the ears and tail, unable to form a coherent sentence.

“Did you really forget everything that happened last night?” Blake snorted as she ducked down to retrieve the milk bottle and put it back in the fridge.

“That wasn’t all a dream?!” Weiss squeaked, the shock pulling her fully out of her early morning daze and bringing the memories into clarity. “It actually happened?!”

“Nope, I’m actually into pet play and put these on to fuck with you.” Blake deadpanned, closing the fridge and leaning up against it.

“Bu-But I kissed Yang!” Weiss blurted out, still trying to process the memories. “That had to be a dream!” Blake did an admirable job of keeping a straight face for approximately five seconds before bursting into raucous laughter.

“Dream about kissing Yang often, do you?” Blake choked out in between guffaws. “Trust me, Weiss. It’s all real, and gods does it feel good to be able to walk around the house with my ears and tail out.” She stretched out luxuriantly, much like an actual cat would. “I am actually so fucking glad you’re one of us, I would not have been able to survive an entire year like that. What the fuck was I thinking?”

Weiss continued to stare blankly at Blake as the gears in her head turned and her thoughts finally reached some form of coherency.

“I need to sit down.” Brushing past Blake, Weiss all but collapsed onto one of the sofas and dropped her head into her hands. A few moments later she felt the other end of the sofa depress as Blake joined her.

“Hey, sorry I teased you like that, that was mean.” Weiss felt a hesitant hand reach out and pat her awkwardly on the shoulder before pulling it away as the cold of Weiss’ being made it too uncomfortable to rest her hand there. “You okay?”

“I’m still just trying to process everything.” Weiss muttered from in between her fingers. She was sure that if she still had blood, her face would be bright red as she remembered the many _many_ times she and Yang had kissed last night. She’d insisted on ‘practice’ once it became apparent that their opposing natures had an effect on the other’s state of being.

“I really thought I was the only one. It seems silly now that I think about it. There’s nothing special about me, so how could I be the only supernatural thing in the world?”

“Hey, you are special, Weiss, and I’m sure Yang and Ruby will agree with me.” Blake insisted and Weiss looked up at her, doubt etched on her face. “I’m serious, if you weren’t, you wouldn’t have come back and I wouldn’t be able to do this.” The cat girl prodded Weiss in the arm. “Coco didn’t really say much about it last night, but it takes so much willpower for a ghost to manifest physically, and for you to be as solid as you are, you must be the most stubborn person to have lived.”

“Doesn’t feel like I am, I gave up on pursuing Yang pretty easily.” Weiss muttered, not wanting to take the compliment.

“I mean when you really set your mind on something, if you were that stubborn about everything, you’d probably be unbearable and impossible to live with.”

“Gee, thanks.” Weiss snarked, shooting Blake a disgruntled look.

“No problem. Anyway, whether you’re special or not doesn’t really matter, you weren’t silly for thinking you were the only one.” Blake’s confident smirk shifted to something more reassuring. “Most of us either get born into this weirdness like me or brought in like Jaune was. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you and your sister not knowing anything about this stuff.”

“It… It wasn’t easy.” Weiss admitted, remembering first the fear, then the horror and then the tears. So many tears, all of them shed by Winter. “But when I said she was the best sister I could ask for, I meant it.”

“I’m an only child, so I wouldn’t know really what having a sibling’s like.” Sighing loudly, Blake stretched out and draped herself over the rest of the sofa, tail twitching as she looked up at Weiss. “Your’s sounds pretty good though, at least compared to some of the horror stories I’ve heard.”

“Heh, we weren’t always this close. When we were younger, Winter never really had time for me, I think she actually used to resent me a little because Father chose me as his successor over her.”

“Seriously, people still do that?”

“My father is something of a… traditionalist.” Weiss cringed a little. Really, that was one of the tamer descriptors for the man. “He’s rather adamant about keeping the company in the family and that it be inherited by the eldest suitable heir.”

“Then how come your sister’s ineligible? Is it because of her girlfriend?” Blake cocked her head inquisitively, ears twitching.

“No, though that would be grounds in Father’s eyes. This was before that.” Weiss hesitated, was she seriously about to tell Blake this? She supposed in comparison to being a ghost it was pretty mundane, and she’d probably have to tell them at some point. She definitely needed to tell Yang if things were to _progress_ between them.

Steeling herself, Weiss tried to meet Blake’s curious gaze, but found she couldn't, her eyes fixing on her nervously twisting hands as she spoke. “Winter wasn’t suitable in Father’s eyes because she’s female.”

“Oh…” Blake’s eyes widened as her tail stopped twitching and she shifted awkwardly. “And I assume you…”

“Small upside to dying, now I get to look exactly how I’m meant to.” Weiss tried to smile, but it came out weak and forced. “Father never would have accepted it anyway.”

“I’m sorry, Weiss, he sounds like an absolute dick.” Weiss had to stifle a snort of laughter at Blake’s rather succinct description.

“I suppose he is.” She chuckled softly and was about to add some of her own insults to the list when a loud crash echoed from Ruby’s room, followed by a lot of muffled swearing.

“Ruby? You okay in there?” Blake slid off the couch and approached Ruby’s door tentatively as another crash came from upstairs, accompanied by its own much louder swearing.

“Fucking hell, Ruby, what are you doing in there?” Yang yelled as she came marching down the stairs. “It’s too early for you to be making all that racket.”

“Yang, she might have hurt herself.” Blake reprimanded sharply, knocking on Ruby’s door. “Ruby, can I come in to make sure you’re alright?” A short silence, then a muffled sound in the affirmative and Blake entered the room, leaving Yang and Weiss alone together.

“I hope she’s okay…” Weiss mumbled, wondering if she should go and check as well but Yang let out a snort.

“She’ll be fine, she’s done worse to herself and bounced back good as new loads of times.” She reassured the ghostly girl. Nodding reluctantly, Weiss turned to face Yang, intending to greet her properly, only to let out a loud scream.

Blake and Ruby came crashing out of the latter’s room at the panicked shriek as Yang stood stunned by Weiss’ reaction to seeing her. “Weiss, what’s wrong?!”

“Your arm!” Weiss whimpered, pointing a shaking hand at where Yang’s right arm should be but instead there was only a stump just below the shoulder.

“What the- Fuck! I forgot to put it on.” Yang swore several more times as she bolted for the stairs whilst Blake rushed over to comfort the trembling Weiss and Ruby looked on in distress.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Blake pulled Weiss into a quick hug, but was forced to let go pretty quickly by the waves of cold emanating from her. “Weiss, Yang’s okay.”

“B-But her arm…” Weiss stammered out, the shock slowly fading but the horror of seeing her girlfriend(?) missing an arm remained.

“She’s fine now, she’s fine. It happened a long time ago.” Blake continued, picking up a sofa cushion and placing it between herself and Weiss to insulate her as she pulled her into another hug.

“W-What happened?” Weiss whimpered, eyes firmly fixed on the staircase, waiting for Yang to return. Blake froze, only it wasn’t from the cold seeping into her as she retreated a little.

“I-I think it’s best if Yang tells that story.” She murmured quietly as Ruby slid up beside her to lay a comforting hand between her ears, scritching gently. “It’s my fault anyway…” Weiss’ head snapped around to look at Blake incredulously. Surely _Blake,_ who was so incredibly protective of Yang, couldn’t have cut Yang’s arm off?

“It wasn’t your fault.” Yang spoke loudly from the stairs as she descended into the room, stern gaze fixed on Blake. “I’ve told you enough times already, I don’t blame you for what happened.”

“But if I hadn’t hooked up with Adam…”

“No, Blake. Stop thinking like that, please.” Yang crossed the room and laid her left hand on Blake’s shoulder, forcing her to look at the blonde. “You had nothing to do with what Adam did, it was all him.” After a long moment, Blake nodded reluctantly, squirming out from between the sisters, tail flicking nervously as she backed towards the stairs.

“I’m just going to go back to bed, you know me, half-cat, so I gotta get those 14 to 18 hours.” Without waiting for an answer, Blake vanished back up the stairs.

“Is… Is Blake alright?” Weiss asked tentatively, if only to break the awkward silence.

“She’ll be fine, it’s just… it’s a difficult thing for her to remember.” Yang spoke, not moving from her crouched position in front of the sofa. “Ruby, you mind giving us some space?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Ruby meandered back into her room, closing the door rather forcefully behind her. There was a small shuffling as Yang repositioned herself in front of Weiss, taking one of the ghost’s hands in both of her own, scorching Weiss with the touch of one of them.

“Weiss, talk to me. Please?”

“Your arm… it was just gone. But you have both of them…” Weiss looked down at where Yang held her hand and was shocked to see Yang’s right hand was made of dark wood and bands of metal and inscribed with glowing orange sigils. “It’s fake?”

“Ruby made it for me after the injury, inscribed it with the magic so it would work just like the real thing.” Yang let go of Weiss’ hand briefly to show off the artificial arm. “Does… Does it bother you?”

When Weiss didn’t immediately answer, Yang’s expression dropped and she flinched away, her hands pulling back, only for Weiss to hold on tighter, despite the burning sensation the touch of Yang’s skin elicited.

“No!” Loud desperation tinged her voice and Yang looked back, unshed tears sparkling in her eyes. “No… Your arm doesn’t bother me.” Carefully reaching out, Weiss laid a hand on the smooth varnished wood of Yang’s arm and trailed her hand over it in wonder.

“It’s just… How could someone do that to you. Why would they?” Weiss asked, fingers now tracing the engraved sigils.

“It’s… it’s not a happy story.”

“I sort of guessed it wouldn’t be.” Weiss joked weakly and Yang cracked a small smile as she moved over to sit beside the ghostly girl.

“I suppose that was fairly obvious, huh?” Yang took a deep breath to steady herself. “Back in first year, Blake and I dated for a while. I thought things were going pretty well. We went out dancing one night, and whilst we were out we met this Faunus vampire guy called Adam at my Uncle’s club.” Yang ran her free hand through her hair distractedly as she recounted the story.

“Blake was… Blake was smitten with him. He was charming and handsome and he always knew the right thing to say.” A deep sigh and Yang leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees.

“He and Blake started talking and meeting up after that, and then after about a week… she broke up with me.” Despite knowing the pain it would cause her, Weiss leaned into Yang’s side in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

“I was, well, gutted doesn’t really cover it. I felt like I wanted to die half the time. Then things started going even worse, Blake started pulling away from all of us, spending more time with Adam and his friends. Until, during the winter break, I got a call from Blake’s parents saying she’d gone missing and that she’d left a note explaining she’d run away with Adam.”

“All of us in the Masquerade went out looking for her and Adam. Coco had been pretty sure he was up to something shady, and it turned out she was right.” Another sigh as Yang rubbed absently at the join between her flesh and the wood of her arm. “I found Blake, beaten and bloody. It turned out Adam was the leader of a cult of vampire supremacists, the kind of dumbfucks who think that all other supernatural beings and humans should be eradicated in favour of vampires. And he’d just tried to turn Blake against her will, thank the gods she was able to get away before he gave her his blood.”

“That sounds horrifying.” Weiss murmured, wincing a little as the burning sensation started to get too much to handle and she was forced to retreat as something cold and hard formed in her chest.

“Yeah, anyway, as I was tending to Blake, Adam arrived.” Yang shuddered, the hand gripping her wooden arm tightening. “He was furious, ranting and raving, screaming all sorts of things, and he had a sword.” Yang let out a short humourless bark of laughter. “I mean what sort of edgelord douchebag uses a sword these days?”

“My younger brother and I used to fence.” Weiss added somewhat unhelpfully, shrugging as she did so.

“Well, it doesn’t matter why he had it. What matters is that he came at us with it, swinging it around like a madman. All I cared about was keeping Blake safe, so I got between her and Adam and…” Yang’s head dropped, unable to say the words, and the coldness in Weiss deepened.

“It hurt _so much_ , so much blood and pain. I was screaming, Blake was screaming, and Adam was just laughing.” The chill in Weiss’ chest swelled even larger at this. How dare he? How dare this scum, this _man_ attack Blake and Yang like that? Try to turn Blake into a vampire against her will and dismember Yang?

He should pay, he deserved to be punished. Its icy aura started to emanate from Its form, tendrils of ice crawling out from her across the sofa. One snaked its way over towards Yang, where it touched her bare leg, making her jump.

“Weiss?” It didn’t answer as it rose to Its feet, mind set. Adam would pay and It would make sure he felt every single bit of pain he had put Blake and Yang through. “Weiss, what are you doing?”

“Vengeance.” It answered simply, making Its way to the door only to be stopped by a hand grasping Its wrist.

“Weiss!” It turned to look back at Yang in confusion. Surely she would want this to happen? Want Adam to suffer.

“Vengeance must be extracted. Adam must pay.” It turned away and let itself drift apart so Yang couldn’t hold It back.

“Weiss, he’s dead.” That gave It pause. Ceasing Its movement towards the door, It once again turned to face Yang. “Blake and I, I’m not sure how we managed it, but we killed him. Blake stabbed him through the heart and I burned him. There’s nothing of him left, just ashes scattered to the winds.”

Weiss blinked a few times, shaking her head to clear it of the fog that had just been clouding her mind. A fog just like the one she’d felt when she’d attacked Cardin.

Oh no.

Weiss looked around and noticed Yang in front of her, breathing hard. “Yang!” Weiss threw herself forwards, only to find she was incorporeal and nearly passed through Yang before she caught herself. “Yang, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. It was just like at the park. Shit, did I hurt anyone again?” She asked frantically, looking around Yang, half afraid to see a pile of frozen bodies.

“No, nobody got hurt.” Yang breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you’re okay though.”

“Yang, what happened? Last thing I remember is you talking about how Adam was laughing, and now I’m over here. Yang, what’s wrong with me?!”

“I… don’t know, Weiss. I’m sorry, but I don’t know what just happened to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That went well, didn't it? At least now we know more about Blake and Yang's shared history, so that's good. Weiss having another little break though... eh I'm sure she's fine, nothing horrifying there. Also Blake is kind of a troll and I love writing it and experimenting with differing characterisations.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being one of my biggest cheerleaders with my writing. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being so soft and adorable.


	14. Chapter 14

It took a couple of minutes for Yang to coax Weiss back over to the sofa, the ghostly girl even more shaken after Yang told her what had happened. It took another few minutes for her to be convinced to recorporealise and accept a backrub from Yang.

“You want to talk about it, Weiss?” The blonde asked tentatively and she shook her head vigorously. If she was right in her thinking, this was the second time she’d lost time and that scared her almost as much as almost getting exorcised.

“Y-You really don’t know what happened to me?” She asked again, praying that Yang’s answer would change but knowing that there was no way it could have.

“I’m sorry, Weiss. I wish I knew…” Yang murmured, her wooden hand continuing to rub calming circles in between Weiss’ shoulder blades. The sensation itself was rather muted, as most things were, but the knowledge that Yang was still here comforted Weiss just a little. “Maybe Dad or Uncle Qrow could help, they know far more than I do.”

“Are they both ifrits too?”

“Dad is, but Uncle Qrow isn’t. He’s only a human, but he’s picked up a lot from running his club.” Yang explained, rocking back a little. “There’s lots of people we still need to introduce you to.”

“I thought I’d met everyone last night, other than Penny.” Weiss cocked her head, starting to feel a little calmer, though unease still bubbled in her chest.

“You met everyone in the Black Masquerade last night.” Yang corrected with a faint smile. “That’s just the people who go to the uni and live around the local area. We’ve got a bunch of friends and acquaintances who live in the city proper.”

“I see…” A frown crossed Weiss’ face at the idea of meeting even more new people. “Is that such a good idea though? What if it happens again and I hurt someone?” A dark and worrying thought suddenly crossed her mind. “What if I hurt you?”

“Weiss, you’re not going to hurt anyone.” Yang tried to reassure her but she continued to spiral.

“Us being together was a bad idea. I shouldn’t be near you. I could lose control again or-.” Weiss’ rant was suddenly interrupted by a burning grip on her arm that shocked her out of her spiral.

“I promise you, Snowdrop. You’re not going to hurt me or anyone else. Please, trust me.” Yang spoke with such conviction, Weiss almost believed her, she wanted to believe her. “I’ll give Dad a call in a bit and hopefully he can help. If not, we’ll hit Uncle Qrow’s bar. We’ll work this out.”

Yang’s words made a lot of sense, but part of Weiss still couldn’t help but look on the darker side. “I don’t want to hurt you…” She murmured piteously as her arm continued to burn in Yang’s grip.

“You won’t. I’m a lot tougher than I look, and you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” Yang smirked at Weiss and she couldn’t help but crack a smile, the blonde’s confidence was so infectious.

“Oh, really?”

“Yup.” The tension in Yang relaxed a little as Weiss relaxed as well. “I’m not about to fight fate.”

“You think us being together is fate?” Weiss’ concerns of a few moments ago all but melted away under the warmth of Yang’s cocky grin.

“Why not?” Weiss raised a sceptical eyebrow so Yang continued, thankfully removing her hand from Weiss’ arm to gesture animatedly before it actually started to hurt. “Think about it though. Out of all the houses you could have chosen to move into, you ended up in ours. There’s no way that was a coincidence, and what with you being a yuki-onna and me, an ifrit, it has to be fate.”

“Oh, I see, so you think we’re bound by fate, then?” Playful sarcasm edged Weiss’ voice, though she had to admit, it was a bit of an odd coincidence that she had joined this house out of all the others she could have picked. Something did bother her though, and it wasn’t the idea that she and Yang were destined to be together, but rather that Yang had latched onto it so readily.

“Well, normally I’d be all for saying ‘fuck destiny’ and making my own way, but if I’m fated to be with you, I think I’d be more than okay with that.” Yang’s grin slipped a little and she withdrew a little awkwardness slipping into her previously confident body language.

“Um, speaking of being bound to people, there is something I should probably tell you about me and Blake.” Weiss blinked in surprise, not quite sure where this change in topic came from.

“Go on…” She spoke warily, not sure where this could be leading. A few worst case scenarios bounced around her head, each one more fantastical than the last, yet knowing what she did now they seemed no less realistic.

“When we killed Adam, Blake and I both got hurt. Well, you knew I got hurt.” Yang gestured to her wooden arm. “But he got Blake pretty good too. Anyway, after we killed him, we both sort of collapsed together into a heap together. We were so tired and hurting we didn’t really pay attention to all the blood and we said a few things about protecting each other…” She cringed a little at the memory.

“We were pretty delirious, so it didn’t make much sense, there was something about protecting each other, but that’s not the point. The point is, we sort of accidentally made a blood oath.” Weiss cocked her head in confusion.

“You mentioned something about those last night, something about me being safe from them because I don’t bleed.”

“Yeah, blood oaths are pretty much magically enforced contracts, forged when the blood of magical beings mingles.” Yang explained, looking increasingly sheepish and running a hand through her voluminous hair.

“So you and Blake accidentally made a blood oath.” Weiss deduced and Yang nodded. “What does that mean?”

“Blake and I are… well we’re compelled to protect each other, from anything and everything. We were so vague in our promises that there aren’t really any semantic loopholes.” Yang sighed deeply and a memory surfaced in Weiss’ mind of Blake pacing her room restlessly.

“That’s why Blake came after me after I ran away…”

“Yeah, like I said, we were so vague, we’re compelled to protect each other from any kind of harm, not just physical.” Weiss shuffled guiltily in place, only stopping when Yang gave her a look. “It was an accident, Weiss, you’re okay.”

Weiss nodded reluctantly, though she continued to frown as several other questions flitted through her mind. “When you say you’re compelled to protect each other, what does that mean, exactly?”

“It’s hard to explain… It’s not like the oath takes control of us or anything, it does kinda nudge us, I guess, when things start happening. Blood oaths are more about enforcement rather than compulsion, so we could choose to go against it if we wanted to, but the results wouldn’t be pretty.” Yang offered a vague shrug and seemed unwilling to detail exactly what the consequences of breaking the oath would be.

“So why are you telling me this?”

“I’m telling you because, well, it means Blake and I are kinda of a package deal. We both try to stay out of trouble so the other doesn’t need to come rushing in to fulfill their obligations, but it does mean we can’t exactly stay apart for too long, in case something does happen.” Yang curled in on herself, pulling her knees up under her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs.

“I’m sorry, Weiss. I-I should’ve told you last night. I understand if it’s a dealbreaker for you.” The resignation in Yang’s voice made Weiss wonder briefly whether any of Yang’s previous partners she’d heard mentioned had broken up with her for this exact reason.

“Yang, I’m not going to stop dating you just because you’re still friends with Blake.”

“Weiss, you don’t understand. This isn’t just being friends with an ex, we’re magically bound together and it’s not just going to go away. This oath is for the rest of our lives.”

“Well, according to you, we’re bound together by fate.” Weiss smirked a little as she shuffled closer to Yang and gingerly pulled her into a side hug. Weiss burned at the contact, but it was well worth it. “And even if we weren’t, I still  _ really  _ like you. No blood oath is going to change that.”

Yang leaned into Weiss’ hug, humming doubtfully as she started to shiver. “You really mean that?”

“I do.” There was a stifled sniff from Yang, then without warning she unfolded from her ball of upset and pulled Weiss into a tight hug. The burning was a sweet sweet agony, but it was worth the pain as the blonde buried her face into the crook of Weiss’ neck.

“Thank you.” She murmured to Weiss, her breath scorching a trail across Weiss’ neck that nearly made her decorporealise, but she held herself together enough to pat Yang on the back of her head. She was only able to hold her form for another minute before the pain grew too much to bear and Weiss’ form drifted apart, sending Yang sprawling face first onto the sofa as she fell through the ghostly girl.

“Shit, Yang, I’m sorry!” Weiss drifted off the sofa to escape the heat that still continued to burn her, though it was muted when she was incorporeal.

“I’m alright.” Yang’s voice was muffled comically by the sofa cushions before she pulled herself upright and Weiss caught sight of a few flecks of frost on Yang’s cheek, where it had rested against her, before it melted away. “I suppose we’ll have to work out how we’re going to handle prolonged physical contact sometime too.”

“Most likely. I’d like to be able to touch you for longer than a couple of minutes.” Weiss pouted a little about this limitation to their relationship. Although given how addicted she was to Yang’s fiery touch, perhaps being unable to maintain contact for prolonged periods of time was a good thing, otherwise Weiss would probably never tear herself away from the blonde.

“So would I.” Yang’s charming smile had returned after her brief foray into depression over being magically bound to Blake, and it warmed Weiss to see it again almost as much as touching Yang did. “I should have some breakfast, I’ve got lectures this morning.”

“I should probably go too. I wanted to call Winter before she heads into work to tell her about… well, everything.”

“Sounds like a plan, Snowdrop. Will I see you later?” Weiss chuckled softly at the almost puppy-like expression of hope on Yang’s face.

“Of course you will, Sunflower.” The pet name slipped out before Weiss really knew what she was saying.

“Sunflower?” A phantom heat filled Weiss’ cheeks and she was sure if she still could, she’d be blushing furiously.

“I mean… you started calling me Snowdrop again and it just sort of slipped out. I won’t use it again if you don’t like it.” Weiss hastily backpedalled. It was dumb nickname anyway, of course Yang wouldn’t li-.

“No! Nonono! I like it!” Yang interrupted Weiss waving her hands wildly, an actual blush on her face. “I like it a lot. I was just a bit surprised.”

“O-Oh.” Weiss floated awkwardly, not entirely sure how to process this development.

“You should go call your sister, Snowdrop.” Yang reminded her as she stood up, stretching out and heading over to the witchen. “I hope it goes well.”

“Thanks.” Weiss called weakly after Yang, then floated up through the ceiling and into the landing. Once she was sure she was safely out of Yang’s earshot, Weiss let out a small squeal of glee before remembering she was right next to Blake’s room and the cat-eared girl could probably hear her.

Collecting herself, Weiss drifted over into her room and was forced to become corporeal again so she could pick up her phone and sit down on her bed. Scrolling through her contacts list, Weiss selected her sister’s number and, after taking a moment to mentally prepare herself, she hit the call button.

The phone rang for several agonising seconds until it was finally picked up. “Weiss? Are you alright? Do you need me to come get you?” Winter sounded a little groggy, she probably hadn’t had her morning coffee just yet.

“I’m fine, Winter!” Weiss huffed at her sister’s overprotectiveness, she didn’t just call because things had gone wrong. “I’m calling because I had some things I need to tell you about.” There was a quiet groan on the other end of the line that definitely wasn’t Weiss’ sister.

“Babe, hang up. Don’t you want me to eat you out and work my magic~?” There was an embarrassed silence on both ends that was eventually broken by Weiss.

“Winter, are you still in bed with Robyn?”

“... Yes.”

“And were you just about to have sex before I called?”

“... Yes.” Weiss groaned quietly, dropping her head and rubbing at her temples.

“I’m going to call back later.”

“Wait, Weiss, you don’t need to do that. Talking to you kind of killed the mood anyway.” There was a pause and the voices on Winter’s side were muted as she covered up the receiver. After a few moments Winter returned. “I just cleared things up with Robyn. She says hi, by the way.”

“Tell her I said hello back, and that she needs to be quieter if she’s going to discuss your sex life whilst you’re on the phone.” Weiss could imagine the embarrassed blush filling her sister’s cheeks as she needled her a little for her girlfriend’s indiscretion.

“Ahem, I’ll be sure to pass that on.” Winter coughed awkwardly. “So what was it you wanted to tell me about?”

“Well, for starters, Yang and I are now dating as of last night.”

“WHAT?!” Weiss had to pull the phone away from her ear at Winter’s shocked shout. “Weiss, what are you thinking? We discussed this only a little over a week ago!”

“I know, I know.” Weiss tried to reassure her sister. “But I promise, it’s not going to be a problem anymore.”

“How could it not be a problem anymore, unless you somehow came back to life.” Winter hissed, still sounding anxious and irritated.

“No, I didn’t.” Weiss snarked, rolling her eyes before remembering that her sister couldn’t see her. “But my current state of being is no longer an issue.” Excitement bubbled in her chest as she prepared to tell Winter.

“I’m not alone anymore.”

“What?”

“There’s more people like me. Well, not exactly like me, but not human like me!” There was silence on the other end so Weiss continued. “Werewolves, vampires, all sorts of things like that are real. Winter, magic is real and my housemates are a part of this world. They know about me being a ghost and it’s all okay.”

The silence continued for several long awkward seconds and Weiss was starting to worry she may have shocked Winter into fainting. Then a hesitant voice came through the phone again. “I’m sorry, Weiss. For a moment I could have sworn you said that magic and vampires are real and that you told your housemates that you’re dead.”

“Yes, I did.”

“I see…” Another silence, this one stretching on for nearly a minute until Weiss broke it.

“Winter? Are you still there?”

“Yes, yes I am.” There was a deep sigh. “Sorry, I’m just trying to wrap my head around this. It was hard enough discovering ghosts are real.” Weiss heard the sound of creaking springs and could imagine Winter starting to pace back and forth in her bedroom, trying to process the revelation.

“So your housemates are a part of this?”

“Yes, all of their friends too. They invited me into their group, they’re going to teach me about being… well, dead.”

“I see…” Weiss frowned at Winter’s noncommittal answer.

“You’ve said that already.” She snarked at her older sister, but there wasn’t an immediate reply, just another silence. “Winter, aren’t you happy for me?”

“I am, I am…” Winter sighed deeply again. “Do you mind if I call you back? I need to get ready for work.” Weiss knew it was a lie, they’d been talking for barely a few minutes and there was no way Winter needed to get ready if she’d just been about to have sex with Robyn. She may not exactly be experienced, but Weiss was pretty certain just a few minutes wasn’t long enough.

“Sure, I’ll talk to you later, then. Have a good day at work.” She chirped as happily as she could despite the bitter sting of disappointment.

“I’ll try. Goodbye, Weiss.”

“Bye.” Weiss’ farewell went unheard as Winter had already ended the call. Quietly, Weiss got up and replaced her phone on her desk before wandering back over to the bed and collapsing face first onto it. Reaching out blindly, Weiss grabbed a hold of Snuffles and curled up around the plush polar bear.

She didn’t really know how she’d hoped that conversation would go, but it certainly wasn’t like that. She’d thought Winter would be happy for her, that she’d be glad things had worked out between her and Yang. Weiss was sure if she still could, she’d be tearing up. As it was though, crying was beyond her now, so instead she remained curled up in her ball of sadness, frost and ice snaking out from her across the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are looking pretty good for Weiss and Yang, they've got a plan to help Weiss with her lost time. I do wonder what's up with Winter, I'm sure it's all fine though and it'll all get cleared up soon. I've got quite a few things planned for the next arc that I'm rather looking forward to, it's gonna be a fun ride!
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so sweet to me. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being so so good.


	15. Chapter 15

Winter did not end up calling later that day, nor did she call the next. A pit of anxiety gnawed at Weiss’ innards as she tried to go about her days as normally as she could, though she couldn’t help but wonder why Winter hadn’t called back. Maybe it had all been too much for Winter to deal with and she’d decided to cut Weiss out of her life completely. She’d considered calling Winter back a few times over that weekend, but fear ultimately kept her from doing so.

In an attempt to distract herself from her sister’s non-communication, Weiss all but threw herself into her budding relationship with Yang, something the fiery blonde reciprocated eagerly. The pair were practically inseparable, meeting up between lectures, continuing with Weiss’ cooking lessons despite it coming out that Weiss didn’t need to eat and of course, and practising touching each other.

It was late on Tuesday evening and the pair were sitting on either side of the dining table, brows furrowed in a mix of concentration and pain as they rested their palms against the other’s. They’d been at this for about an hour at least, but they were both determined to be able to maintain contact with one another for at least five minutes this session.

“You’ve got a minute left.” Blake called out from the sofa, keeping a close eye on the pair and the timer on her phone whilst her left ear twitched restlessly. The pair barely acknowledged her, all of Weiss’ concentration was on maintaining her physical form as the intoxicating mix of pleasure and pain burned away at her.

Across from Weiss, Yang was breathing heavily, her eyes glowing red and teeth clenched. “You doing okay, Snowdrop?” She gritted out as the ice that coated her hand started to creep past her wrist.

“I’m fine.” Weiss’ voice was strained. She could feel the very tips of her fingers starting to fade into wisps of steam. “We can do this.” Second after agonising second ticked by, but the girls kept at it, their expressions of determination finally started to switch to pain as the sensation stopped being pleasurable and seriously started to hurt.

“That’s time!” With a gasp of relief, Yang pulled her hand away, breathing hard on it, her warmth cascading over her ice-slicked hand and melting the coating away. Weiss too clutched her hand close to herself, though unlike Yang she had no method of gaining quick relief from the pain. Instead she nursed her hand as best she could whilst trying not to show just how much pain it put her through.

“Is this really worth it?” Blake looked between the other two women, her tail flicking from side to side, betraying her agitation. “You’re both hurting yourselves a lot for just a few minutes of contact. Is touching each other really so important to your relationship?”

“I mean, it kinda is?” Yang ran a hand through her hair awkwardly, avoiding Blake’s concerned gaze. “Like, it’s important in most relationships, but even more so ‘cause Weiss can’t really touch anything anymore, not properly at least. We aren’t quite sure why, but I’m the only thing she can really feel anymore. Right, Snowdrop?”

“Yes, but…” Weiss instinctively flexed her aching hand, despite it doing her no good. “Yang, if it’s really hurting you, maybe we should stop…”

“What? No, Weiss, I’m fine.” Yang reassured her, holding out her hand for the other two to inspect. “See? It’s just fine, and it’s not like it hurts all the time, just if we stay in contact for too long.”

“But it’s still hurting you!” Blake exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air and starting to pace the room in agitation. “I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to help you with this.”

“Blake, that’s just the oath talking.” Yang glanced nervously at Weiss before reaching out to rest her flesh hand on Blake’s shoulder. “The whole point of this is so we can get to a point where it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“What if you never reach that point?” Blake asked miserably. Her pacing may have been halted by Yang, but she was clearly still conflicted about it. “What if this is the limit of yours and Weiss’ tolerance for one another’s presence? We still don’t know all that much about Weiss, there’s next to no information about yuki-onna in my books and Weiss doesn’t seem to play by normal ghost rules all the time.”

“But we have gotten better, Blake. We used to not be able to make direct contact for longer than a couple of minutes before Weiss had to decorporealise, and now we’re up to five.” Weiss felt like she should also join in on convincing Blake their practice was still a good idea, but something held her back.

Blake didn’t answer for a while, her ears flicking in thought. “Fine, I know it means a lot to the both of you, so I’ll keep helping. If nothing else, it means I’ll be there to stop you from accidentally going too far and hurting yourselves.” Blake’s last sentence seemed to be aimed primarily at Yang, but she glanced over at Weiss as well as she spoke.

“Thanks, Blake.” Yang murmured, stepping around to pull her into a hug as Weiss muttered her thanks as well before moving to sit on the sofa. Weiss couldn’t help but feel a small sting of jealousy at the easy affection and casual touches Yang could share with Blake. She didn’t voice it, however, as Yang broke away from Blake and settled on the sofa beside Weiss, reaching out to gently pat Weiss on her shoulder.

“You alright, Snowdrop? You look a little out of it.”

“Oh, I’m fine.” Weiss half-lied quickly. “Just wondering what to do for the rest of the evening.”

“Well, if you’re both done with your ‘practice’, I’ve got my assigned reading to finish.” Some of Blake’s usual dry snark had returned as she sat on the other sofa and picked up the book she’d set aside when Weiss and Yang had requested her assistance a little earlier.

“We could watch something, though I don’t think anything good’s on at the moment. Maybe a half-decent panel show, but that would be it.” Yang mused to herself.

“If you’re going to watch something, I’ll go up to my room.” Blake made to get up but paused when the doorbell rang. “Were either of you two expecting anyone?”

“No…” Yang got up and tapped one of the sigils engraved on her arm making it shimmer and shift back to flesh tones. “I know Coco told us to be wary of the council, but they wouldn’t knock, right?”

“They can’t even get in without permission.” Blake confirmed having set her book down and grabbed a beanie from nearby to hide her ears. “Doesn’t mean they didn’t send some hopefuls to pull us out.”

Hesitantly, Yang made her way over to the door, tension clear in her stance as she reached out to grasp the door handle. Weiss was unsure of what she should do as she watched nervously from the sofa, Blake standing tense just out of sight of the front door.

With a deep, steadying inhale, Yang swung the door open and Weiss could see just behind her a mass of unnaturally orange hair.

“Sal-u-tations, Yang!” The blonde sagged in relief, recognising the owner of the incredibly chipper voice. Blake relaxed too when she heard the call and pulled her beanie off, slumping back onto the sofa.

“Hey, Penny.” Yang greeted the guest and led the way back into the living room, pausing for a moment to hammer on Ruby’s door. “Weiss, this is Penny. She’s Ruby’s girlfriend.” Weiss did a double take when Yang moved aside, allowing Weiss to see their guest properly for the first time.

Weiss’ first thought was that it was a store mannequin, only someone had gone through great pains to make it look as real as possible, even going as far as removing the bottom half of the head and replacing it with a simple hinged jaw and painting freckles on its cheeks. The girl moved incredibly stiffly, almost like she was being puppeted by a very inept master who could only move one limb at a time.

It all made for quite a disturbing sight and it was made even more so by Weiss seeing her talk. “Sal-u-tations, Weiss.” Her mouth’s movements weren’t quite in sync with her words, making the whole experience very disconcerting and Weiss instinctively withdrew.

“Hello…” Weiss answered uneasily, unsure as to whether she should comment on Penny’s obviously supernatural nature, but was saved from having to make that decision by Yang who spoke up as she flopped back onto the sofa beside Weiss.

“You don’t have to keep possessing that thing just because Weiss is here, she’s one of us.”

“Oh! Is she?” Penny leaned forward jerkily to inspect Weiss who cringed back a little in discomfort.

“Blake is right there with her ears and tail out.” Yang gestured over at the other woman present who raised a hand in greeting but remained engrossed in her book.

“So she is!” Straightening up, Penny marched over to a corner of the room and dropped down. Her limbs went slack and for a brief moment it looked like there was the image of another girl superimposed over the mannequin. As it turned out, that was exactly right, as the translucent girl hopped up and floated back to the middle of the room.

“Y-You’re a ghost?!” Weiss suddenly remembered Coco off-handedly mentioning something about meeting another ghost.

“Yep! Penelope Polendina, but you can call me Penny, all my friends do!” the ghostly ginger stuck out a hand, then seemed to realise she couldn’t shake hands and retracted it awkwardly. Weiss blinked in shock at this very strange introduction as she took in Penny’s true form. She looked far less solid than Weiss, and was actually translucent, like ghosts usually were in films, though she still retained her colouration from life, just faded. Actually comparing how Penny actually looked with the mannequin she’d been using, Weiss could now tell that the body had been painstakingly modified to resemble Penny, and she wondered who would have done so.

The answer was pretty obvious, however, as the door to Ruby’s room suddenly crashed open and the girl herself stumbled out, pulling headphones off her ears and pushing a pair of goggles up onto her forehead as she swore loudly.

“Shitshitshit.” she looked wildly around until her eyes settled on Penny and she broke into a happy grin. “Penny!”

“Ruby!” Penny squealed, now completely ignoring the bemused Weiss, swooping over to the other girl and somehow bouncing in mid-air. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too!” Ruby reached out and gently caressed the air where Penny’s cheek would be. “I’m sorry, I lost track of time.”

“That’s okay, silly. I know how caught up you can get with your work.” She reassured her, raising a hand to not-quite-meet Ruby’s. “You said you had something to show me?”

“Ruby, you knew Penny was coming?” Yang interrupted the pair, leaning forward to look around Weiss at them. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I did, Yang.” Ruby shot back, the soft affection in her voice slipping away rapidly. “I told you yesterday and this morning.”

“Oh, sorry, Rubes. I don’t think I heard you.” Yang smiled sheepishly, running her hand through her hair, not noticing how Blake glanced up from her book to look at Yang, one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, yeah.” Ruby returned her attention to Penny. “I’ll just go grab it.” With that, Ruby vanished back into her room and Penny drifted back to the others.

“So, Weiss! How’d you meet Ruby and the others? I’ve never seen you around before.”

“I only joined Beacon uni this year and as for meeting this lot, that was a happy accident.” Yang let out a soft whine of happiness and affectionately nudged Weiss in the side.

“I thought we agreed it was fate that we met.” She teased playfully and Weiss rolled her eyes affectionately.

“Of course it was, Sunflower.” This relationship with Yang felt so easy compared to her prior experiences, aside from their inability to touch each other for longer than a few minutes. The light banter, the pet names, the adoration Weiss saw in Yang’s gaze. It felt so simple and oh so good.

“Omigosh! Are you two dating!?” Penny squealed joyously, bouncing happily and swishing over to Yang. “Oh, I’m so happy for you, Yang!”

“Thanks, Penny.” Yang flushed a little as Penny continued babbling.

“Oh it’s wonderful to see you in a happy relationship again. After Pyrrha dumped you, I was so worried you’d swear off dating in despair.”

“ _ Thanks, Penny. _ ” Yang reiterated, her embarrassed blush replaced by mild irritation and what looked like fear as her eyes flickered over to Weiss. There was a moment of awkward silence as Penny looked between Weiss and Yang, her head cocked in confusion then let out a squeak of horror.

“Oh no! That was your ‘Penny, stop talking now’ voice wasn’t it? Did I say something I shouldn’t have again?” Penny clapped a hand over her mouth, though it did nothing to muffle her voice. “I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Yang waved off the apology with the air of someone who’d had to do it several times before. Penny opened her mouth, probably to apologise again but was interrupted by Ruby’s door slamming open again.

“Penny!” Ruby chirped, skipping over to her girlfriend, proudly holding out a disturbingly realistic arm. “What do you think?”

“Oh, it looks wonderful, Ruby! But I thought you said it would take you months to fabricate my body?”

“I had some spare time and it’s not like I’ve got many assignments.”

“Ruby, I thought you said Professor Oobleck gave you your first continuous assessment problems on Friday?” Yang asked, pausing in her own examination of the arm to eye Ruby suspiciously.

Ruby rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, low enough that Weiss was pretty sure Yang didn’t hear. “Of course you remember when I have work to do, but when it’s something I actually care about…” Her dark look suddenly lightened as she proceeded to ignore Yang and spoke directly to Penny. “And I wanted to make sure it would work before I made the full thing.”

“You’re brilliant with sigils, Ruby. Of course it’ll work!”

“I appreciate your faith, Sweetie, but it’d make me feel a lot better knowing your new body is fully functional.” Penny let out a squeal of joy and tried to wrap her arms around Ruby, but only succeeded in floating through her instead.

“Whoopsie.” Penny floated back upright and grinned sheepishly as Ruby smiled indulgently before walking over to the crumpled mannequin Penny had left in the corner.

“I made it so the parts were modular with this old one, so if this works, you can hang onto it for a little while and see how it feels over a longer period of time.” Ruby explained absently as she hoisted the mannequin upright and started fiddling with its arm.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I’ve been a little lost for the last few minutes.” Weiss finally spoke up, her confusion getting the better of her polite silence. “Why is Ruby making Penny a body? Why does she even have one in the first place?”

“Well, ya see, Penny’s not a super fancy kinda ghost like you are, Snowdrop. No massively traumatic death as far as we know, just some unfinished business, so she’s not able to manifest like you are an-.” Yang’s explanation was cut off by an excited squeal as Penny swept over to Weiss and did her bouncing thing that by all accounts shouldn’t work when you’re floating.

“Omigosh, you’re a ghost too!” She positively beamed at Weiss, who groaned quietly and let herself drift apart and floated up a couple of inches. “It’s been so long since I’ve met another ghost in full possession of their faculties!”

“Ha, possession.” Yang chuckled quietly as Penny continued to chatter on about the last ghost she met. Weiss reached out to rest a hand on Penny’s shoulder in an effort to calm her down, only for her hand to pass right through.

“What?! But we’re both ghosts, so that shouldn’t have happened, right?” Weiss looked between the other occupants of the room in bewilderment.

“Don’t be silly!” Penny giggled, proceeding to wave her hands through Weiss as a demonstration. “We’re not in some slightly-off dimension or something that means we can touch other ghosts. We’re just incorporeal, and incorporeal things can’t touch anything, including other incorporeal things.” She then cocked her head. “Did that make sense? I think i might have used the word incorporeal too many times.”

“No, I think I got the gist. Sorry, I’m pretty new to the whole ‘being dead’ thing.”

“Oh goody! This is going to be so much fun! I have so much to teach you, we can have sleepovers and paint our nails, try on clothes and talk about cute girls!”

As Penny continued to rhapsodise about all the fun things they could do together, Weiss noticed out of the corner of her eye a thunderous look on Ruby’s face that nobody else seemed to have noticed, Blake having engrossed herself in her book and Yang almost egging Penny on.

“Weiss isn’t just any old ghost though, she’s a yuki-onna, so she’s got all these ice powers and stuff. Do you know anything about that?”

“Gee, I don’t know about that.” Penny tapped her chin in thought. “All the ghosts I’ve met have just had the usual floating and walking through walls. Sometimes, if they’re really angry, they can start throwing things around.”

“Oh, Weiss can do that too! She can maintain a solid form for hours.” If Weiss could blush, she probably would be at Yang’s low-key bragging about how special she was. She was also now very aware of the irritation now rolling off of Ruby and how a lot of it seemed to be directed at her.

“Yes, but we can talk about it some other time. I think Ruby’s ready for you, Penny.” Weiss hastily and unsubtly steered the conversation back to the original purpose of Penny’s visit.

“Oh, yes!” Weiss shot Ruby what she hoped was an apologetic look, but it was still met with hostility, which was quickly masked by a smile as she pulled the mannequin up for Penny. It was unusual to watch as she stepped into the same space as the mannequin and then seemed to fade into it, the limbs suddenly gaining life and starting to move in the same twitching motion as before.

This time, however, the right arm, the one Ruby had replaced the old one with, moved a lot smoother than the others and could move at the same time as the other too.

“Oh, Ruby, this is wonderful!” The jaw flapped as Penny tested out the individual fingers. “It’s like I’m actually moving my arm rather than thinking about it!”

“That means it’s working!” Ruby reached out and started prodding the arm. “Can you feel that?”

“A little?” Penny reached out to prod Ruby’s cheek, earning a soft laugh and reprimand from Ruby.

“Hey, stop that.” It was at about this point, Weiss decided to take advantage of the others’ distraction and make her exit, lest she somehow annoy Ruby further. Silently, she drifted across the room and up the stairs. As she floated along the landing, a soft call of her name made her turn back.

“Weiss, you okay?” She was surprised to see it was Blake who’d followed her up rather than Yang.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” Weiss deflected clumsily, Blake narrowing her eyes at her suspiciously. When Weiss didn’t give anymore details, she sighed deeply and turned to head back downstairs.

“Alright, if you want to talk though, I’ll listen.” In the dark of the corridor, Weiss thought she saw Blake give her a soft smile. “Oh, and don’t mind Ruby too much. I’m not sure what’s going on with her, but she’s not normally like this, and I know she genuinely likes you.”

Before Weiss could answer, Blake vanished back downstairs with a flick of her tail, leaving Weiss to float there in confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Penny! She's adorable and kinda creepy, I can't be the only person who finds store mannequins low-key creepy, they wouldn't have made a Doctor Who monster out of them otherwise. We're now really getting into the next arc of the story now and I'm sure everything's going to be fine! I'm sure Ruby just had a bad day or something. 
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and making sure I take care of myself. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and for all the plot feedback.


	16. Chapter 16

“So… how are you and Yang doing? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.” Weiss blinked in surprise at the sudden question as Jeanne smiled sheepishly from across the table. The two had been sitting in silence outside the university’s brand new sports centre, waiting for their respective girlfriends to finish their workout so they could all go for lunch together.

“Things are good.” Weiss answered, smiling a little at the thought of her girlfriend. “Great, even.” She and Yang had officially announced their relationship to the Masquerade group chat not long after Penny’s visit, and it had been about a week since then.

“Cool, I’m glad you’re happy.” Jeanne fiddled with her ponytail awkwardly. Really, her whole body language radiated discomfort, and Weiss did wonder whether it was because of Yang and Pyrrha’s previous relationship. 

“How about you and Pyrrha?” Weiss asked politely, tabling that thought for later.

“Same as usual. It is coming up on the full moon soon though, so that’s going to be fun as always.”

“How so?” Cocking her head at Weiss with a frown, Jeanne continued to play with her ponytail until a look of realisation crossed her face.

“Oh, I forgot you were only inducted a couple of weeks ago. Sorry, my bad. You’ve just taken to it so well, much better than I did.” She sighed, letting go of her hair to drum a fast-paced rhythm out on the wooden table. “So, we can transform at any time of the month, though it’s a lot harder in daylight, but around the full moon we are compelled by her call to transform.”

“That doesn’t sound particularly pleasant.”

“Oh, the shifting is incredibly painful, but once that’s over with, it is genuinely a lot of fun. Though there are a few attendant issues.” Jeanne blushed a light pink as Weiss’ eyebrow rose questioningly. “It’s hard to put delicately, but when she’s transformed, Pyrrha can get quite… frisky.”

It took a few moments for the meaning of Jeanne’s words to sink in, but when they did, Weiss let out a small squeak of embarrassment. “I-Is that a werewolf thing?”She asked, half-afraid of the answer.

“No, no, it’s just a Pyrrha thing.” Jeanne blushed even deeper and she seemed to be regretting mentioning it in the first place. “She’s already quite an… enthusiastic partner, and the transformation exacerbates that.”

“I see…” Weiss murmured, starting to feel a little uncomfortable as she thought of her own relationship. “And you’re okay with this?”

“Very much so. She’s so attentive and strong, and her fur ~ .” Jeanne sighed happily, losing herself in fantasy for a moment before she remembered where she was and blushed even deeper, coughing in embarrassment. “So yeah, things are going well.”

The pair fell into an awkward silence, Jeanne returning to fiddling with her ponytail as Weiss continued to contemplate what this new information about Pyrrha meant for her and Yang’s relationship. Yang had told her that she and Pyrrha had dated for several months during the last academic year, so they’d almost certainly spent some full moons together.

Of course Yang had a sex life before she started dating Weiss, not everyone was a confused nervous wreck like she’d been in life. But if what Jeanne was saying about Pyrrha was true, and she had no reason to doubt the blonde, then did that mean Yang had similar expectations out of their own relationship?

They hadn’t discussed such a thing yet. Weiss had sort of been putting it off, since she’d feel obliged to tell Yang about being trans, and she wasn’t quite ready to do that just yet. Perhaps more importantly, could they even do that? They might be making progress on the length of time they were able to maintain contact, but at their current rate, it would be months before they could do so for long enough to do that.

And of course, this was all academic, since Weiss wasn’t sure if she even could get… aroused anymore. Even when she was corporeal, sensations were muted and she had no bodily functions, including the more physical aspects of being sexually attracted to someone.

She hadn’t tried engaging in any… self love since her death. Being dead and learning out how more important things worked had been her main priority. Not that she’d particularly loved herself before her form became as mutable as it now was. She’d always felt a sense of discomfort the few times she’d tried in the past, her dysphoria often getting the better of her. Just thinking about her abortive attempts at mastubation made her feel as though her stomach was twisting itself into knots.

“Uh, you okay there, Weiss?” She was brought out of her unpleasant memories by a hesitant and anxious voice. Shaking her head to clear it further, Weiss looked up at Jeanne and was surprised by the worry etched on her face as she looked around nervously.

“I’m fine, Jeanne.”

“Are you sure? Because…” Jeanne subtly indicated the table where Weiss’ hands had been resting. Looking down, Weiss was shocked to see a few tendrils of ice snaking out from where her palms were pressed flat against the wood.

“Shit.” She swore, hastily checking the rest of the table and bench for more frost, but was relieved to see none. “I didn’t think my mood was negative enough to do that.”

“Your mood?” Jeanne cocked her head as she rubbed at the frost on the table with some tissues, trying to melt it before anyone noticed.

“It’s something Blake and Yang noticed, I have this thing where if I’m too upset or angry or just feeling negative, I start to freeze the surrounding area.” Weiss explained, scowling at her hands and flexing them in irritation. “I’ve been trying to get it under control, but evidently it’s not enough.”

“That sounds difficult.” Jeanne commented, having finished clearing the ice away and giving Weiss a curious look. “So have you just been trying to suppress all negative emotions?”

“Well, I couldn’t think of anything else I could do to prevent myself from accidentally becoming the epicentre of the next ice age.”

“That’s actually really unhealthy, and quite possibly dangerous given the side effects your emotional state has on your powers.” Jeanne frowned in concern, her fingers starting to tap out a nervous rhythm. “By suppressing your emotions rather than dealing with them, you’re just kicking the problem down the road, and it will probably lead to them building up until it gets to the point where you just can’t ignore them anymore and-.” She mimed an explosion with her hands, earning a frown from Weiss.

“Then what do you propose as a solution?”

“Breathing exercises?” Raising an eyebrow, Weiss waited for the realisation to hit Jeanne which it did after a few moments. “Oh, right, sorry. Maybe talking about your feelings with someone? Meditation? Just something that keeps you from getting into the headspace where your powers start to manifest out of your control.”

Weiss ducked a little in embarrassment, avoiding Jeanne’s questioning gaze. “I don’t actually have them under control at all.”

“What?”

“I didn’t know I was a yuki-onna until Coco mentioned it, or that I had these abilities.” She confessed, fiddling nervously with her fingers. “I don’t even really want them. What use is being able to summon a blizzard?”

“You’d be surprised.” Jeanne’s face turned grim for a second before returning to its previous expression of concern. “Either way, it’s pretty important you get a handle on your powers. You don’t want to accidentally out yourself and the rest of the Masquerade, do you?”

Weiss shook her head, grimacing at the idea of being discovered. “No, I don’t.”

“Well then, perhaps some practice is in order.”

“Practicing what?” A voice sounded just behind Jeanne and both she and Weiss jumped. They’d been so engrossed in their conversation they hadn’t noticed the newcomers. Jeanne was particularly panicked as she spun around with wide eyes, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw it was just Pyrrha and Yang.

“Yang! Don’t do that!” Jeanne protested, slapping Yang lightly on the arm as she walked around the table to sit beside Weiss whilst Pyrrha sat beside Jeanne. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry, Jeanne.” Yang apologised before pressing a brief searing kiss to Weiss’ cheek. “So, what are you practicing?”

“We were just talking about how it would be a good idea for Weiss to learn how to control her powers properly.” Weiss frowned a little at how easily Jeanne spilled this to Yang and Pyrrha, but she was starting to get the impression that this particular group of friends were  _ very  _ open about things.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Despite being rather cool towards Weiss and Yang during Weiss’ first meeting with the Masquerade, Pyrrha had quickly returned to her friendly demeanour with no indication there’d ever been any sort of disagreement or ill feelings.

“I suppose…” Weiss mumbled, starting to feel rather self-conscious about her reluctance. “But I don’t really want these powers. I’d much rather be alive again than have the ability to flash freeze a person or whatever.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Yang reached out to run her fingers through Weiss’ hair, careful to use her artificial arm so they wouldn’t have to worry about getting hurt. “You don’t have to use your powers or anything like that if you don’t want to, but you yourself said that it would be good to know you weren’t going to hurt people just because you lost your temper.”

“I know…” Weiss still felt rather sulky about the whole thing, though Yang’s reassuring hand did make her feel a little more at ease.

“If it helps, I was terrified of my first full moon.” Jeanne offered, curling into Pyrrha’s side and making the redhead rumble in happiness as she wrapped an arm around the blonde and began to toy with her ponytail. “I was terrified I’d lose control of my wolf and hurt someone.”

“Wolfie, I’ve told you before, there’s no wolf, it’s just you.” Pyrrha sighed as she wound Jeanne’s hair around her fingers.

“I’m very aware, Pyr.” Jeanne huffed, folding her arms and pouting. “I am the psych student, after all, but that’s how I rationalised it at the time.” Pyrrha huffed out an apologetic noise and buried her face in Jeanne’s hair, displaying far more affection in public than Weiss thought was proper. Of course, she herself was on the receiving end of Yang carding her fingers through her hair, so she wasn’t exactly in a position to talk about being proper.

“Anyway, I was afraid I might hurt someone, but Pyrrha helped me through it and I’m not afraid of transforming anymore.” 

Yang hummed in agreement, pausing momentarily in her attempt to braid Weiss’ hair one handed. “I used to have a lot of difficulty keeping my fire under control.” She admitted, a note of guilt entering her voice. “I had awful anger management problems when I was a kid and I may have set more than a few things on fire during tantrums, so I get having dangerous powers that you need to keep under control.”

Weiss shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. Part of her still wanted to ignore this part of her existence, try to be as normal as she could. But that wasn’t really possible for her anymore, was it? Especially not when she was dating a demon whose friends were all part of this paranormal society she’d begun to dip her toes into.

“Will you help me?” She asked Yang, blinking hopefully up at her girlfriend.

“Of course I will, Snowdrop.” Reaching up, Weiss gave Yang a quick kiss before settling back down to enjoy Yang’s ministrations.

“Shall we go get lunch, then?” Pyrrha interrupted, already starting to get up from the bench, Jeanne not far behind.

“Sure.” Yang agreed and Weiss quietly grumbled a little as Yang stopped fiddling with her hair. Reluctantly, she too got up to go with the other three back into town and accepted Yang’s proffered arm.

“So, I was thinking we could try out that new Korean place.” Pyrrha suggested as the four made their way past the tennis courts towards the bridge back into town. “Nora and Ren went last week and it got Ren’s seal of approval, so it must be pretty good.”

“Sounds good. What do you think, Snowdrop?”

“I can’t eat, remember?” Weiss raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend who cursed quietly.

“Shit, sorry, Weiss. Maybe we should go do something else?”

“No, it’s fine, really.” A wry smile crossed her face. “Guess it does mean I’m a cheap date though.”

“Um, Weiss, I don’t think that means exactly what you think it means.” Jeanne piped up from where she was tucked into Pyrrha’s side and seemed to be clinging onto her girlfriend’s arm for dear life.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it kinda means that you’re a lightweight.” Yang supplied, though she looked faintly amused by Weiss’ misapprehension.

“I see…” Weiss hummed in thought as they passed some people going in the opposite direction. Oddly, as the passersby neared, Jeanne pulled even closer into Pyrrha, almost using the tall redhead as a shield despite being a couple of inches taller than her.

“You okay there, Jeanne?” Weiss asked curiously once the four were alone again and Jeanne shot her a nervous glance.

“I’m fine, I’m just… not used to going out like this.” She gestured at herself. “I only presented as female in private until a few weeks ago.”

“Wolfie, you look beautiful.” Pyrrha tried to reassure her girlfriend, but Jeanne continued to frown.

“I’m too tall to wear heels, my shoulders are too broad to wear dresses or anything sleeveless and my hips are so narrow I look like a triangle.” She bemoaned, her complaints sounding all too familiar to Weiss. “Why couldn’t I be short and cute like Saph?”

“You are cute, Wolfie, and I like that you’re tall.” Pyrrha pouted up at Jeanne, pulling away to walk backwards whilst still facing her girlfriend, hands held loosely. “I love you, Jeanne, you’re my girl.”

For a moment, Weiss thought she was imagining the sudden tension in Yang’s arm as they watched the other couple pull into a surprisingly chaste kiss, but no, it was definitely there. She shot her girlfriend a questioning look but it was met with a small head shake so she instead returned her attention to the other couple.

“You’ve only been presenting as female for a few weeks?” She asked politely and Jeanne blushed a little, pulling close to Pyrrha for comfort.

“Kind of? I mean, I’ve been experimenting in private ever since Yang helped me work things out.”

“Yang helped you?” Weiss felt a small swell of pride as she smiled up at Yang. How kind and caring her girlfriend was to help out her friends like that.

“Yeah, it was back when we were dating at the start of last year.” Just like that, the warmth in her chest burst and settled heavily in her stomach.

“Oh, I didn’t know you and Yang used to date.”

“Yeah, we dated for a few months. Didn’t end up working out though, obviously.”

“Obviously…” Something unpleasant gnawed at Weiss’ non-existent innards, but she wasn’t entirely sure what it was exactly.

“But yeah, she was the first person I came out to.” Jaune returned to toying with her ponytail whilst shooting Pyrrha a slightly nervous look. “You remember how scared I was, Yang?”

“Absolutely petrified.” Yang’s tone seemed light, but Weiss had by now started to pick up on some of Yang’s subtleties and there was something off with her. “I swear, you were going to faint or something.”

“I was scared you’d break up with me over it or something!” Jeanne protested as Pyrrha stifled her giggles.

“You knew I’m pan though, I'm offended you thought I’d break up with you.”

“Hey, don’t be too hard on Wolfie.” Pyrrha came to Jeanne’s defense, frowning playfully at Yang. “It takes a lot of guts to come out for the first time, or any time for that matter.”

“I know, I know and we’re all very proud of Jeanne for having the guts to come out to us.”

“Hey, you’re selling yourself short, Yang. I probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable enough if you hadn’t been so supportive.” Jeanne smiled encouragingly at Yang, who returned it wanly, which only made Weiss’ stomach twist even more.

It didn’t feel like jealousy, and it made no sense for it to be jealousy either, Yang was with her now, not Jeanne. Then again, feelings rarely made much sense. Forcing down her discomfort, Weiss plastered a happy smile on her face as the quartet crossed the bridge into town.

The Korean cafe was only a couple of minutes walk from there and they arrived in no time at all. As they were about to go in, however, Weiss paused as there was a buzzing from her pocket. Pulling out her phone, wondering who could be calling her, she nearly dropped it in shock when she saw the caller ID.

“Do you mind if I take this?” Jeanne and Pyrrha shook their heads and proceeded inside whilst Yang hovered uncertainly. “You go on ahead, I’ll be fine.” Reluctantly, Yang followed the other two inside, leaving Weiss to step away from the cafe entrance to answer the call.

“Weiss? I hope I’m not interrupting anything, I can call back later if I am.”

“Nonono, I’m not busy, Winter.” Weiss replied hastily, clutching the phone to her ear like a lifeline. “I’m so happy you called.”

“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner, but work has been incredibly busy.” It was a bad lie, but Weiss was willing to let it go because her sister was finally talking to her.

“Of course, I understand.”

“Yes, well, I’m calling to tell you I’ll be visiting this Sunday.”

“What?! But why?”

“I want to see you in person, and given recent developments and revelations, I think it’s important that I do and make sure you’re alright.” Weiss remained silent, questions whirling around her head. Why did Winter want to visit her? Why now after leaving her in the dark for over a week? As the various questions went unanswered, Winter had continued speaking. “I’ve booked a room in the city centre, so there’s no need for you to make room for me at the house.”

“O-Of course.” Weiss stammered out, trying to get her thoughts into some semblance of order.

“Excellent, I shall see you in a couple of days.” And with that, the call ended, leaving Weiss alone and worried about what was going to happen on Sunday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yang's dated quite a few people before Weiss huh? The Masquerade is looking more and more like a collection of Yang's exes. Anyway, Winter is on her way, so that's going to be a fun conversation for everyone. Also as a side note, there was originally going to be no hot werewolf sex here since Weiss isn't dating one. Buuuuuut I may have gotten some inspiration, so that's possibly on the cards for later on. Not to worry, plenty more smut planned for the near future.
> 
> Also, I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being a pervy inspiration. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being an inspiration for the less pervy bits.


	17. Chapter 17

“You okay there, Weiss?” The question broke Weiss out of her stupor and she looked around to see Blake standing over her, concern etched on her face.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

“Really? Because you’ve been staring at the same page for the last fifteen minutes.” Blake gestured at the book that Weiss had been trying to read before she got distracted. “I find that talking normally helps.” Blake settled herself in the chair opposite Weiss and looked at her expectantly.

“I’m… I’m worried about my sister.” Weiss finally confessed, and Blake hummed in understanding.

“I don’t have siblings, but I get it. I get super stressed out whenever my parents come to visit.” Weiss shook her head at the attempt at empathy.

“No, it’s not that. Well, it is a little.” Closing her book, Weiss buried her face in her hands. “Winter’s been... off ever since I told her about the Masquerade.”

“Off how?” Blake leaned in, ears swivelling in interest.

“I don’t really know. After I called her last Friday and told her about everything, she couldn’t get off the phone fast enough.” Rocking back in her chair and looking up, Weiss was surprised to see Blake’s eyes narrow a little. “I just thought she needed some time to process like I did, and she said she’d call me back later, but then she didn’t call at all until yesterday.”

“I see…” Blake’s face was twisted into a suspicious frown, her ears twisting back and forth.

“Do you think there’s something wrong with Winter?” Worry crept into Weiss’ voice at Blake’s odd reaction.

“You said Winter works for the government or something, right?”

“Sort of… After Father disinherited her and got her blacklisted in the private sector, she had to get an army scholarship. From what I understand, she got picked up for some kind of specialist role that she’s not authorised to tell me about, just that it’s incredibly important and incredibly secret.”

Blake hummed again, even more concerned this time and it felt as though a chill ran down Weiss’ spine despite her inability to feel cold anymore. “Does that mean something to you?”

“Well…” Blake looked as though she was having an internal debate with herself and it was not doing Weiss’ nerves any good.

“Blake, is there something wrong with my sister?”

“There have been… rumours… Something I heard when I was with Adam and the Fang. Talk of us not being not quite so secret and hidden as we thought.” Weiss really did not like what Blake was implying. “That governments are more aware of our existence than they let on, and they perform experiments on us.”

“No, there’s no way.” Weiss shook her head fervently. “She wouldn’t. Winter’s not like that.”

“How well do you actually know your sister?”

“Better than anyone else. After I came back, she took me in, helped me learn how to manifest and blend in.” Weiss stated firmly, this idea of Blake’s was ridiculous.

“And what about before then? Before she got that job?”

“I…” Weiss gave pause to that. It had been easy to forget just how distant Winter had been when she’d been alive, back when Winter had known her as just another annoying younger brother. “But she’s protected me for so long. If she were a part of this organisation, which you yourself claim was only heard of through rumours, surely she would have turned me in immediately.”

“Family’s different, Weiss, it always is.” Blake leaned back in her chair, ears still twisting uncomfortably. “You said she taught you how to blend in?” Weiss nodded silently. “How did she react when you told her you were going to come here?”

“She wasn’t thrilled.” Weiss admitted, shifting awkwardly in place. “She thought it was a bad idea, that I wouldn’t be able to keep the facade up and I’d get discovered.” She did not like the look Blake was giving her, nor the lack of trust in her dear sister. “This still doesn’t explain why she’d be off after I told her about the Masquerade.”

“It’s easy for her to keep you safe and secret, you’re her family and just one person. An entire group of us though…”

Weiss had had enough of this ridiculousness, this was too far. “Enough, Blake.” She snapped coldly and a small slick of frost spread out across her chair. “This is just silly, and it all hinges on some baseless rumours you heard years ago.”

Blake looked like she wanted to argue, but her eyes flicked nervously down to look at the ice and she deflated. “You’re right, I’m just being paranoid.” She ran a hand through her hair distractedly before getting up to pace the living room. “I’m not great with trust. After Adam…”

Blake’s voice drifted off as they gazed off into the middle distance, and Weiss spoke up. “Why do you trust me, then? Especially after I lied to you all about what I am.”

“Because Yang does.” Blake shrugged, her tail swishing restlessly behind her. “And she’s a good judge of character. Better than I am, at least.”

Weiss hadn’t dared ask Blake about Adam. Even years later, it still seemed to be a difficult subject for her, and understandably so. Still, she felt the need to say something encouraging, but before she could spout some vague platitude, their attention was caught by the front door slamming open.

“Ruby, wait!” Weiss heard Yang call down the corridor as Ruby stormed through the living room and into the kitchen, and they heard the bathroom door slam and lock as Yang jogged into the room.

“Yang? What was that?” Blake asked, already halfway to the kitchen to go after Ruby.

“I don’t know.” Yang shrugged helplessly, leaning up against the sofa to catch her breath. “We were just walking back from lectures, talking, and I mentioned that we were going to Uncle Qrow’s tomorrow night.” The faint sound of running water emanated from the bathroom as the three girls moved the conversation into the kitchen. “Next thing I know, she’s pissed and shouting at me, and I don’t know why so she stormed off back here.” Yang looked between Weiss and Blake in distress. “What did I do wrong?”

“Shall I check on her?” Weiss offered, letting herself decorporealise and float off the floor a little, but Blake shook her head.

“That would be a bad idea, I think.” Blake told her, before approaching the door and knocking on it softly. “Ruby? It’s Blake, do you want to talk?”

A long silence followed, until it was broken by a loud and tearful shout. “No! Go away!”

“Ruby I-.”

“I said, go away!” There was a loud slam against the door and the three girls in the kitchen jumped.

“Maybe we should leave her for a bit?” Weiss suggested, and Blake nodded reluctantly. The two of them and Yang made their way back into the living room, Yang collapsing onto one of the sofas whilst Blake paced back and forth, her tail thrashing in agitation.

“I’m going to call Penny, she might be able to help.” She said after some thought, pulling out her phone and dialling.

“I just don’t know what happened.” Yang groaned from between her fingers. “I haven’t seen Ruby get like this, well, ever.”

“I don’t think this is a new thing, Yang.” Weiss spoke up tentatively, drawing the attention of the other two. “I think something’s been off with her for at least a week now.” Before Weiss could continue, Blake held up a hand.

“Penny? It’s Blake. Could you maybe come over? Ruby’s really upset about something and she doesn’t want to talk to us.” Blake continued pacing as she listened to Penny’s answer. “Okay, see you then.”

“Penny on her way?” Blake nodded in answer to Yang’s question, then returned her attention to Weiss.

“How has Ruby been off?”

“She just seemed a lot more irritable recently. I chalked it up to not knowing her all that well.” Weiss shrugged, feeling more than a little anxious that her dismissal of Ruby’s behaviour had made things worse.

“Ruby’s normally pretty laid back.” Yang’s frown deepened and she leaned forward to rest her chin on her hands. “I just don’t know what could have happened to make her upset like this.”

“Well, it’s got to be something, and I hate to say it, but it’s probably something you did, Yang.” Blake shrugged, ceasing their pacing to look at Yang. “What was it you were talking to her about again?”

“I told you, we were just talking about lectures and stuff.” Yang shrugged, rather upset by the accusation. “Maybe she’s not doing well in her subject?”

“I doubt it.” Shaking her head, Blake resumed pacing, ears twitching away in discomfort. “What else?”

“I think you mentioned something about telling Ruby that we were going to your Uncle’s bar.” Weiss volunteered as she hovered uncertainly, glancing back at the closed bathroom door. Something lit up in Blake’s eyes and she rounded on Yang.

“Yang, did you invite Ruby to come with us?”

“I think so? Why wouldn’t I?” Yang answered defensively though she seems more than a little unsure.

“I don’t think you did and that’s probably why she’s mad.”

“I guess that could be it… I get that she’d be upset about getting left out, but not so much that she’d blow up like that.” Yang sounded doubtful, and Weiss agreed. Everything that had happened with Ruby just now seemed rather extreme over not getting invited out to a club.

“Then there must be more to it than that.” Blake’s tail continued to swish restlessly back and forth as she folded her arms. “Can you think of anything else that might have led up to this?”

Yang sat back and fiddled with her hair in thought as something occurred to Weiss. “She was also kind of irritated when Penny came round.”

“Was she? I thought she was really happy, especially when her modifications for Penny’s body worked.” Yang cocked her head in confusion.

“I left pretty much immediately after Penny started testing it out because I thought she was mad at me over something.” Another thought occurred to Weiss, a rather unpleasant one. “You don’t think she’s angry at me, do you?”

“Why would she be angry at you?”

“I don’t know, but you said she’s not normally like this, and the only thing I can think of that’s changed is me being here.” Weiss looked to Blake, almost hoping for a rebuttal, but none came.

“Possibly…” Blake agreed reluctantly, but Yang shook her head.

“No, Ruby likes Weiss. She encouraged us to get together.”

“Well, until Ruby tells us what’s up with her, all we can do is speculate.” Blake sighed, flopping down on the empty sofa. “Penny will be here in a bit, hopefully Ruby will talk to her.”

“Hold on, Penny’s coming now?” Weiss stared in shock.

“Yeah, she’s worried about Ruby.” Blake answered matter-of-factly, blinking curiously up at Weiss. “What’s the problem?”

“Is it safe for her to do that? Won’t people notice the walking mannequin?” Last time Penny had come round it had already been late, and Weiss imagined she could hide in the darkness, but it was broad daylight right now.

“Oh, nah, Ruby engraved her with some sigils that hide her true nature. Like the ones on my arm, only they’re weaker ‘cause they’ve got to conceal her whole body and Ruby wasn’t quite as good at magic back then as she is now.” Yang reassured Weiss, raising her wooden arm to demonstrate.

“But I can see her.” Yang’s explanation only baffled Weiss further and in a different way.

“Like I said, they’re weaker, and you’re one of us, which makes glamours less effective.” Yang explained patiently and Weiss nodded in understanding.

“Right, sorry I keep needing you to teach me these things.” She frowned guiltily, but Yang shook her head, refusing the apology.

“It’s fine, sometimes I forget you’re still pretty new to this, and I honestly don’t mind teaching you. I kind of enjoy it, actually.” Yang blushed and Weiss was pretty sure she would too if she could, while Blake rolled her eyes.

“Yes, yes, you two are adorable, I get it. But can we not lose focus here, please?”

“Right, right.” Yang sighed and gave Blake an apologetic look. “But what else can we do other than wait for Penny to get here and hope Ruby’s willing to talk to her?”

“I… I don’t know.” Blake admitted, casting a worried look at the still closed bathroom door. “It feels wrong to know someone I’m close to is suffering and not do anything about it.”

“I thought I was the one you were bound to protect.” Yang joked weakly, but Blake’s gaze snapped back to her and her expression was not a happy one.

“I’m not sure why out of the two of us, I’m the one who’s more concerned about Ruby.” Shuffling under Blake’s glare, Yang shrugged half-heartedly, her nervous smile twisting into a frown.

“I am worried about her, really. But she doesn’t need her big sis constantly fretting about her.” Pulling one of her legs up, Yang wrapped her arms around it and rested her cheek on her knee as she looked at the bathroom door.

“She’s going to be nineteen in a couple of weeks, she’s a successful uni student and has a long term girlfriend. Ruby doesn’t really need me anymore.” Something uncomfortable twisted within Weiss at Yang’s words. Was that what Winter had done with her when she hadn’t responded for so long?

That period of radio silence had been the longest they’d been out of contact since Weiss had come back. Even if they didn’t talk, Winter would send a text just to check up on Weiss or ask how her day was. Did Winter think Weiss didn’t need her anymore because she had Yang and all these new friends?

If that was what was happening, Weiss definitely did not want to lose Winter from her life, and honestly, she wasn’t sure Ruby would want to lose Yang from hers either.

“Are you sure Ruby doesn’t need you anymore?” She asked quietly, catching Blake and Yang’s attention.

“What?”

“Did she say anything about it? Did she complain about you being overbearing or something?” Weiss continued to press, and Yang looked up at her, brows creased in worry.

“No, she didn’t. I just kind of figured…” Shifting guiltily, Yang looked to Blake for reassurance, but received none.

“Well, I’m not Ruby, but I know I wouldn’t want my big sister to just cut me out.” Blake nodded in agreement with Weiss’ sentiment and added her own two cents.

“I don’t have any siblings, so I can’t say personally, but Ruby loves you. You’re her sister, and you’ve been a great one. I sincerely doubt she wants you to just back off completely.”

“You’re probably right… But it’s not like I don’t have my own life. Ruby and I have been living apart for the last couple of years. I’m trying to move on from having to be her mum.” Blake hummed in understanding, though Weiss wasn’t sure what Yang was referring to, and was once again reminded she lacked the history with Yang the others had.

“You should talk to Ruby about it, then.” Yang hesitated for a moment, looking back at the bathroom in worry, before nodding and getting up. Leaving Weiss and Blake in the living room, Yang walked through the kitchen and knocked on the door.

“Ruby, it’s Yang. Can we talk, please? I’m sorry I haven’t been paying you much attention recently.” There was no response at first, then Weiss heard the lock to the bathroom click open and allowed Yang to enter, the door closing behind her.

“They probably need privacy.” Blake commented, gesturing for Weiss to join her on the sofa. “You mind talking to me so I have something to focus on and I don’t end up eavesdropping?”

“What did Yang mean about having to be Ruby’s mother?” She asked, recorporealising to sit down beside Blake.

“I can’t really give any details, nor should I.” Blake sighed, scratching the back of her head. “But Yang and Ruby’s mother disappeared when Yang was young. Her dad didn’t take it well, so Yang had to look after Ruby for several years.”

“Oh…”

“I don’t think Yang resents Ruby for it, but I get the impression she missed out on a fair amount because of it.” Blake continued, ears and tail twitching restlessly.

“Do you think they’re going to be okay?” Weiss leaned over the arm of the sofa to look at the bathroom, from which she could hear the faint murmurs of conversation.

“I hope so. At least they’re talking now, and that’s a good start.” Shaking her head, Blake put on a small smile. “Let’s talk about something else for a bit though. You looking forward to going to Qrow’s bar tomorrow?”

“I guess. It’ll be an interesting experience, if nothing else.” Weiss pushed the uncomfortable thoughts out of her mind for now and focused on her conversation with Blake. Even if Blake was optimistic about Yang and Ruby’s relationship, Weiss wasn’t so sure about her and Winter’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who remembered they have other stories in progress! Sorry it's been a while since I updated this, but it's back, sort of, I've still got other fics as the priority. Hopefully things will work out with Ruby and Yang, they need to get better at communication, even if they have been mostly apart for the last couple of years. Not sure if the same can be said for Weiss and Winter though. They've all got issues to work through. 
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so sweet. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being so helpful when this chapter was being a pain.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


	18. Chapter 18

“You’re sure your uncle won’t mind us talking to him?” Weiss asked Ruby as she and her housemates walked through the twilight towards the train station. After Penny had arrived the previous night, Weiss had elected to retire, as had Blake.

The next morning, Ruby had refused to elaborate too much on what had happened or what had been discussed. She did offer Weiss an apology, though the spirit wasn’t entirely sure what it was for. Yang had been unusually quiet about what had happened in the bathroom as well, and when pressed by Weiss, she’d merely said that it was up to Ruby how much she wanted to divulge and when.

Whatever had happened though, Weiss did know two things. Firstly, Ruby did seem to be in a better mood than she had been the last few weeks, and secondly, the invitation to the club had been officially extended to Ruby and Penny.

“Uncle Qrow’s pretty laid back, he won’t mind at all.” Ruby reassured Weiss, checking her hair for what must have been the hundredth time. “You’re sure it looks okay?”

“Rubes, your hair is fine.” Yang looked back at the two. “And you and Penny have been dating for years, I doubt she minds if your hair isn’t perfect.” Ruby had had a haircut that day, a fortunate coincidence with the outing that evening. According to Ruby, she’d never had her hair cut this short before, and it was currently spiked up with a  _ lot _ of hair gel, exposing her many silver piercings.

“This is the first time we’ve been out clubbing together though.” Ruby shot back, pouting a little. “You know Penny can’t come out to uni events with us just in case.”

“Ya, I know, I’m just teasing.” Yang reached out to ruffle Ruby’s hair but thought better of it and retracted her hand. “But if the two of you are planning on dancing, you’re not going to look nearly as perfect.”

“It’ll be fine, Yang. It’s not as though I can sweat my makeup off or anything, since we don’t, ya know, sweat.” That had been a surprising discovery. She’d certainly noticed before she knew Yang was an ifrit that she never seemed to sweat, but actually finding out that it was a side effect of Yang’s demonic nature had been unexpected.

“Yeah, but we’ve been clubbing before. You know everyone else is all sweaty and the air gets all humid.” Yang shrugged, “All I’m saying is I know Penny won’t care how you look and you should just relax and enjoy the night.”

“You’re right. I don’t really know why I’m anxious.” Ruby admitted sheepishly as they crossed the bridge onto the campus. There was a closer station to their house, but the one right by the campus was closer to where Penny lived and they’d agreed to meet her there.

“I’m sure you’ll loosen up once you’ve had a drink or two.” Blake chipped in, an amused smirk on her face. “You certainly loosened up quite a bit back when we went to that last freshers’ night.”

“Don’t remind me.” Groaning, Ruby let her head fall back to gaze up at the night sky. “I can barely remember what happened.”

“What happened was you reminded me of one of the reasons I don’t drink anymore.” Yang chuckled, shaking her head. “You were a mess.”

“You might want to exercise a little restraint tonight.” Blake suggested tentatively, and Weiss could tell her ears were twisting uncomfortably under her customary beanie. “I doubt Penny would mind if you got a little drunk, but drinking so much that you end up sick, that’s another matter.”

“Don’t worry, Blake. This won’t be a repeat of the Piña Colada Incident. We’ve got three sober buddies this time.”

“Do I want to know what the Piña Colada Incident was?” Weiss asked warily, and the other three girls started chuckling.

“Last year, Ruby came up to visit for Pyrrha’s birthday. Pyrrha’s not much of a clubbing type, so we went to this low key kind of bar, low lights, calm music that the patrons can choose, ya know.” Yang explained, a wry grin on her face as she reminisced. “So this one,” She patted Ruby on the shoulder. “Had already gotten, like, six or seven cocktails in her so she’s getting pretty hazy.”

“I’d only been drinking for a few months, I didn’t have the alcohol tolerance I have now.” Ruby whined, blushing a little though still smiling.

“Ruby, you still get tipsy after just a couple of beers.” Yang fired back, cocky grin in place.

“Back to the story. Ruby’s pretty out of it.” Blake cut in before a sibling argument could break out. “And some bright spark decides that they’re going to put on Escape.”

“Escape?”

“You know: ‘If you like piña coladas’. That song.” That line did ring some bells for Weiss and she nodded vaguely as Yang continued.

“Well, our resident genius here suddenly perks up when the chorus comes on and loudly proclaims that she’s never had a piña colada before and she absolutely needs to try one.”

“Hey, at least I never set a place on fire because I got so drunk I lost control of my powers.” Ruby said smugly, and Yang did concede the point.

“Fair, that’s another reason I don’t drink anymore. But just because I’ve made some bad decisions whilst drunk doesn’t mean you’re getting out of this story.” Yang turned back to Weiss. “So Ruby goes up to the bar, orders herself a piña colada and comes back to the table we’re at.”

“Something we’d all either forgotten or just didn’t know, however, is that piña coladas contain coconut.”

“Ruby has something of an intolerance for coconut. Upsets her tummy, that kind of thing.” Blake explained for Weiss’ benefit whilst Ruby moaned in frustration.

“It’s so annoying! I can’t eat any of the traditional dishes Blake makes because they all have coconut milk and stuff.” She whined in frustration.

“So this piña colada on top of all the drinks was pretty much the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Yang said gleefully. “You’d never seen such colourful vomit. Ruby had been trying all sorts of new cocktails all evening. I almost wish I’d taken a picture.”

“And that’s how we got banned from that bar.” Blake finished, shaking her head in exasperation. “Pyrrha was not pleased, she really liked that place.”

“I apologised! And she said she forgave me… eventually, at least.” Ruby frowned as they left the campus and approached the small train station.

“Eventually is the operative word there, Rubes.” Yang patted her sister on the shoulder as they made their way into the small building and queued up to get tickets from the machines. “We had to find her a new place in town for her to drink and relax on a night out before she’d even speak to you again.”

“Really? I got the impression Pyrrha wasn’t the sort to hold grudges.” Weiss asked curiously, pausing for a moment in her small fight with Yang over who was paying for the tickets. “After the whole infringing on her territory thing.”

“Oh, Pyrrha’s very much a grudge kind of person. She only really let that go because Coco told her to.” Yang explained, her right hand holding Weiss’ away from the screen as she took advantage of the momentary distracting to buy the tickets.

“It’s hard to get her angry, but if you do, she’s gonna stay mad at you for a  _ long  _ time.” Blake confirmed purchasing her own ticket. “We really should thank Coco for that, Yang.”

“I know, I know.” Handing over the ticket to a pouting Weiss, Yang led the way through the barrier and down to the platform. “I still feel embarrassed about the whole thing. We nearly exorcised my girlfriend.”

“Keep your voice down, Yang” Blake rebuked, eyes scanning the other people at the station, mostly other students also heading into town for a night out. As they got to the platform, it did not take long for Weiss to spot the familiar orange hair a little way down the platform, and Penny noticed them soon after as they approached her.

“Ruby!” She squealed, launching herself at her girlfriend and nearly tackling her to the ground. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Ack! Penny! We only saw each other yesterday!” Ruby choked out as she struggled in vain to escape Penny’s bone crushing hug.

“I know, but I still missed you.” Kissing Ruby, Penny detached and smiled at her before cocking her head. “Did you get a haircut?”

Grinning self-consciously and blushing a little, Ruby reached up to make sure her artfully spiked hair was still intact. “I did. Do you like it?”

“I love it! It suits you, shows off your piercings and works well with your choker.” Penny grinned cheerfully as Ruby’s flush deepened.

“You two are just so adorable.” Yang commented, her own grin firmly in place. “I think they have us beat in terms of cuteness, Snowdrop.” Weiss simply rolled her eyes fondly as Penny turned her attention to the other three.

“Salutations! How are you all? Was everything alright after I left yesterday?” She asked, tilting her head, and Weiss had to repress a small shudder at how uncanny it was.

“Yes, it was. There’s still a few things we need to hash out, but I reckon they’re better. Right, Rubes?” Yang looked to her sister, who shrugged.

“They’re getting there.” She admitted, a small frown tugging at the corners of her mouth before she started smiling again. “You looking forward to the club, Penny?”

“Oh yes, it will be marvelous to see your uncles again!” Penny exclaimed happily. “I don’t think I’ve seen them since last Christmas.”

“Wait, uncles?”

“Did we never mention Uncle Qrow has a boyfriend?” Yang looked between the others for help.

“No, you did not.” Weiss confirmed, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

“Sorry, it must not have come up.” The conversation was brought to a brief halt as the train arrived and the group got on board. They weren’t all able to sit together so Penny and Ruby split off, leaving Weiss with Blake and Yang.

“So your uncle has a boyfriend?” Nodding, Yang put her feet up on the free seat opposite, only to have them knocked off by Blake, who scowled at her.

“Yeah, Uncle Qrow and Uncle Clover have been together for years. They co-own the bar with… Uncle Qrow’s sister, though you’ll probably never meet her, she’s never around.” Yang explained, now propping her feet up in Blake’s lap which the girl accepted with an eye roll. “Uncle Clover will love you, though admittedly, he does like everyone.”

“I see…” As the short journey progressed, Weiss was starting to feel more and more anxious. She’d never been a particularly big fan of going out clubbing, apart from one attempt with Neon and some of her friends, which she’d not enjoyed very much.

This would also be the most people she’d been around since her untimely demise. Outside of lectures, Weiss tended to stay away from large groups of people, favouring instead the company of Yang and the rest of the Masquerade. Even though Yang had reassured her that her Uncle’s club was safe for people like them and she didn’t need to pretend to be alive, Weiss still felt more than a little nervous.

“Hey, you don’t have to come.” Some of her anxiety must have been reflected on her face as Yang nudged her. “I can always give Uncle Qrow a call and we can meet him another day. We don’t have to go to the club.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” Weiss shook her head. “It’s just been a while since I’ve been out like this, and the first time I’ve been out as Weiss.”

“Huh?” Weiss froze, she’d been so wrapped up in her worry she’d let that little detail slip. She hadn’t actually got around to telling Yang yet. She quickly tried to come up with an excuse or explanation, but none came to her. Frantically, she looked over at Blake for help, but the dark haired girl merely shrugged and returned to gazing out the window.

“Yang, I…” Her hastily improvised half-truth about using a completely new name to escape her father died on Weiss’ lips at the expression of open curiosity and confusion on Yang’s face. Thinking about it, she couldn’t for the unlife of her really remember why she’d been avoiding telling Yang about this in the first place.

“Weiss?”

“I’m trans, Yang.” She blurted out before she could second guess herself further, before remembering they were in public and glancing around nervously. Thankfully, everyone else on the train seemed to be engrossed in their own business and not paying attention to her and her impromptu coming out.

“Oh.” Yang blushed and shuffled awkwardly in her seat. “I, uh, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Because I pass well?” Weiss frowned and Yang shook her head. “Because I’m not all that fond of the idea of ‘passing’.”

“No, just that in my experience, when people come out, it tends to be a big deal to them, not something they casually mention on the train.” Yang explained with a shrug.

“I kind of did intend for it to be a big thing.” Weiss admitted sheepishly. “I just wasn’t brave enough and kept putting it off even though I needed to.”

“You didn’t need to, Weiss, you don’t owe people an explanation of your gender.” In spite of Yang’s insistence, Weiss shook her head.

“I did have to, since I want us to be, well… intimate.” Weiss was certain she’d blush at even this sanitised implication if she could. Quite surprisingly, Yang did too, and Blake looked up curiously from staring out the window, beanie twitching towards them.

“Why would that be a concern, Weiss? You told me you had complete control of your form.” She asked and Weiss frowned at the rather personal question.

“I can only alter it to look like something I have a clear image and understanding of. I got my new face by doing one of those face melding things with my sister and mother.” Weiss explained just loud enough for Yang to hear, since Blake could hear practically anything no matter how quiet it was.

“Then why not find some pictures of pussies and use that as a reference?” Blake asked, completely unabashed, whilst Yang’s blush deepened.

“I could, but I don’t know. I guess I wanted something that wasn’t just like a copy or only superficial. I have kind of a complicated relationship with my gender and that area of my body, okay?” Weiss snapped, and Blake held up her hands in surrender.

“Sorry, I was just curious.”

“You were being kind of invasive there, Blake.” Leaning into Weiss’ side with her wooden arm, Yang chided Blake, who looked suitably penitent.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry about that too, Weiss.” She apologised again, and Weiss could see her beanie shifting minutely as Blake undoubtedly struggled to keep her ears from twitching too much.

“It’s okay… I’m probably too sensitive about it. I talked to Winter about it a little, but it always felt kind of awkward.” Weiss rubbed at the back of her neck, remembering the mildly uncomfortable conversations she’d had with Winter soon after she’d learned that she could control her appearance. Winter had taken it in stride pretty well, but it had felt like just another thing Weiss she’d added to the pile of weirdness that her unlife now was.

“You’re allowed to be as sensitive as you want to be, Weiss.” Yang reassured her, patting her on the knee as the conductor announced they were pulling into the station. “This is us.” Removing her feet from Blake’s lap, Yang got up and led the three to the door, tapping Ruby on the shoulder as they went to alert her.

A veritable flood of people in their early twenties disembarked and made their way to the stairs up into the station. Weiss would have been worried about accidentally bumping into someone and starting another rumour like the one at the societies fair if it weren’t for Yang. The blonde stuck close to her and helped keep people at enough of a distance that there was only a small chill as they passed by.

Blake and Yang took the lead as they exited through the barriers and out into the atrium of the station, making a sharp left and past a few shops before emerging into the night air. There was a small amount of swearing from Blake, who bundled herself deeper into her jacket and, glancing around at the passersby, Weiss assumed it was a particularly chilly evening.

“Shouldn’t we have worn jackets ourselves? So we don’t attract too much attention?” Weiss murmured to Yang, taking note of a few odd looks they got at the four of them wearing various thin and impractical for mid-autumn outfits, next to Blake bundled up in her most fashionable denim.

“We’re not going far, and it would be more of a hassle to check them in at the club. You don’t want to be wearing an unnecessary jacket whilst dancing.” Yang told her as they descended a flight of steps to road level and they walked alongside several other people who looked like they were out for a night on the town.

“I guess…” Weiss didn’t bother pointing out any extra clothing was no big deal for her, since they were technically her. It was an odd state of affairs to be naked all the time by a very technical definition. Weiss mostly just tried not to think about it.

“So, when was the last time you went to your uncles’ club?” She asked to distract herself as they waited at a crossing.

“Some time early in the summer I think?” Yang looked to Blake for confirmation but she just shrugged. “It was definitely after exams had finished but before we went back home. We were probably celebrating passing the exams.” 

“Do the rest of the Masquerade go there too?” Weiss asked as the group crossed the road and entered a pedestrianised area.

“Not so much. I, er, I used to take Jaune and Pyrrha, back when we were dating.” Yang mumbled and Weiss felt a small stab of jealousy at the reminder of Yang’s dating history.

No. She shouldn’t be feeling jealous. It wasn’t as though Weiss hadn’t dated people before Yang. Well, she’d dated one person, who compared her to a blobfish, and they never got past even a first date. So maybe the two sets of dating history weren’t comparable, but that was still no reason for Weiss to be jealous of Yang and her previous sexual partners.

The group made their way past Chinatown, leaving the pedestrian area behind and walking along another road. There were fewer people here and Weiss instinctively drew closer to Yang, despite knowing there was next to nothing a normal human could do to her.

“Is your uncle’s club out of the way or something?” She asked as they passed nondescript buildings and a few closed shops. “I don’t see many people, and this doesn’t seem to be the sort of place to open a club.”

“Sort of? This is the Gay Village, so there’s fewer people out here than where all the other clubs are, but since Uncle Qrow’s place caters to a more exclusive clientele, it does need to be off the beaten track.” Yang explained, crossing the road and leading them down a side street. “If you’re not a part of our world, it’s pretty much impossible to find this place. Ren had to be brought personally by Nora to get past the glamours.”

They only walked a few metres down the alley before Weiss could hear the low throb of a bassline and see and a muted neon sign flickering above a wooden door declaring it to be the entrance to ‘Branwen’s’.

“Uncle Qrow and Aunt Raven weren’t great at coming up with names.” Ruby chipped in for Weiss’ benefit as they approached the door. Just before they entered, however, their progress was halted by a very tall and muscular woman who seemed to melt out of the door itself, but she seemed far too solid to be a ghost.

“Yang? That you?” She asked, her stern expression softening as she recognised the blonde.

“Hey, Elm. Been a bit, How’s Hare?” Yang grinned up at the woman, who now that they were closer, Weiss could see she had an almost bark-like texture to her skin.

“She’s fine, still doing courier jobs on the side.”

“Cool. Say hi to her for me, will ya?”

“Sure, sure, lemme get the door for ya.” With that, Elm stepped back into the door, melting back into it, and after a few moments, it swung open for them but there was no one on the other side.

“Thanks, Elm.” Yang addressed the open door, leading the way inside.

“Elm’s a dryad, well, tree nymph, really. That door used to be part of her tree.” Blake answered Weiss’ unasked question as the door swung shut behind them and they walked up a flight of stairs, the music getting louder and louder. “From what I’ve heard, Qrow and Clover saved her from getting burned and offered her a job here as the bouncer-slash-doorkeeper.”

“Do all trees have these nymphs?” Weiss asked as they paused for a moment by the coat check so Blake could hand her jacket off to a young man with dog ears and a tail that wagged in time with the music.

“Not all of them. No one really knows why some trees have nymphs and others don’t, not even the nymphs.” Blake shrugged as they ascended another flight of stairs. Now that they were no longer in public, Blake’s beanie started shifting far more noticeably and she paused for a moment to let her tail out.

They finally crested the top of the stairs and Weiss was hit with a barrage to the senses. Loud music, flashing lights, she was thankful she couldn’t smell anymore, or she was sure that would overwhelm her too.

Ruby and Yang seemed to be in their element, matching excited grins as Ruby grabbed Penny by the hand and tugged her forward, calling over her shoulder as she went. “I’m gonna get a drink and hit the dance floor.”

“I also need a drink, the music’s already starting to get to me.” Blake muttered and slipped away into the crowd, leaving Weiss alone with Yang.

“Want to find a table?” Nodding in agreement with Yang’s suggestion, the pair made their way around the perimeter of the room to a small collection of tables and booths, some of which were already occupied. Weiss tried her best not to stare, but it was hard. There were more people here than she’d expected, and a great many had the body parts of animals that marked them out as Faunus.

“This place is pretty popular with Faunus.” Weiss jumped at Yang suddenly speaking, and she quickly tore her eyes away from a woman with feline eyes and whiskers.

“Why did your uncle start this club in the first place?” Weiss asked as she settled into a free booth, though Yang remained standing.

“It’s kind of a weird story.” Yang explained, an odd expression twisting across his face. “A long one too. The short version is that the Branwen family kind of has a curse of bad luck and Uncle Qrow sort of fell in with my dad and Ruby’s mum back when they were at uni, and that’s how he learned there wasn’t really a place for people like us to congregate.”

“But why a club?”

“Oh, Uncle Qrow used to have a drinking problem. It was an easy way for him to get booze. It actually got really bad a few years back” Yang shrugged, before flashing Weiss a dazzling smile. “But Uncle Clover helped him get clean and he’s been sober for like two years now.”

“That’s something of a relief.” Memories of empty wine bottles rose unbidden in Weiss’ mind before she was able to suppress them.

“Okay, well, I’m gonna go see if Uncle Qrow’s free to chat. You mind hanging here for a bit?” Weiss shook her head and with another easy grin, Yang disappeared into the crowd.

Weiss tried to relax in her seat and watched the crowd as it moved in time to the thrumming bassline and pounding drums. It felt both freeing and incredibly nerve-wracking to be around all these people. She may not have to hide what she was here, but she was still painfully aware of her newcomer status to this world that seemed to lie just below the surface of the one she’d lived in.

Weiss was suddenly distracted from her thoughts as something pink and white appeared in her field of vision. Looking up, Weiss was greeted with the sight of a young woman about her age who was dressed far too nicely for a club. She was wearing a corset of all things, and for some reason was carrying a parasol indoors.

“Can I help you?” Weiss asked, a slight nervous quaver to her voice, and the woman smirked impishly, typing something on her phone and holding it out.

‘Oh, I’m fine, Sweetness, but I think I can help you.’ Weiss blinked in surprise at the forwardness of this woman.

“I’m fine, thank you. I don’t need any help.”

‘But you’re a gorgeous woman sitting all alone. If anyone needs my help, it’s people who fit that category.’ Weiss was starting to get a little weirded out by this woman, who held out her phone again. ‘Would you like my help?’

“I don’t even know who you are.” Weiss pointed out, trying to remain cordial, and the woman clapped a gloved hand over her mouth.

‘Oh, where are my manners. Neopolitan, it’s a pleasure to meet you Miss…?’ This Neopolitan stuck out a hand for Weiss to shake. The name rang a bell, but Weiss couldn’t quite place it as she reached out to take the strange woman’s hand.

“Weiss!” She jerked her hand away as Yang reappeared, glaring down at Neopolitan, who frowned up at her.

“Yang, she just came over to me and started talking.” Weiss explained hastily, but Yang’s attention was fixed on Neopolitan.

“You still duping girls into making shitty deals?” She growled at the pastel girl, who merely shrugged making Yang sigh and look down at Weiss. “Weiss, this is Neo, she’s the one I warned you about making deals with and shaking her hand.”

Weiss remembered now, she’d been told about her when she’d first joined the Masquerade. She also remembered the overheard conversation in the bathroom where Blake had mentioned that Neo was yet another of Yang’s exes.

“Did she try the old, ‘can I help you?’ line?” Yang asked, and Weiss nodded dumbly as the blonde returned her glare to Neo. “Seriously, Neo?”

‘Hey, it’s not like they don’t get anything out of it. I’m not coercing them or anything, and I let people walk away if they don’t like the terms.’ Neo protested, flashing her phone to Weiss as well in her defence.

“It may not technically be illegal or anything, but it’s still pretty skeevy.” Yang grumbled, slipping past Neo to sit in the booth beside Weiss.

“Um, no one actually explained why I shouldn’t be shaking Neo’s hand.” Weiss pointed out as Neo slid into the booth opposite the girlfriends, still smirking a little.

“She’s a fae, a changeling, to be more precise. They’ve got this innate magic that relates to contracts, bargains, pretty much any kind of deal.” Yang explained, still glaring at Neo. “And certain unscrupulous ones, like her, will sometimes trick people into making these deals.”

‘I say again, it’s not like they don’t get anything out of it, and I’m not like some of those jerks who do the whole ironic wish thing. I give pretty girls what they want and I get what I want in exchange.’ Neo simpered as she held out her phone.

“She means sex.” Yang clarified, rolling her eyes, her initial antagonism having slipped into something bordering on friendly. “Neo basically has sex with people in exchange for helping them.”

‘Hey, you didn’t seem to mind all that much when you were fucking me.’

“Neo, I never actually introduced you to Weiss,  _ my girlfriend _ .” Yang quickly cut in, pushing Neo’s phone away, but the damage was done. Confirmation of what Weiss had overheard.

‘Nice to meet you.’ Neo offered a hand again, but it was lightly slapped away by Yang. ‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Yang. How’re things, other than the new girlfriend? And what happened to Pyrrha? I thought you were dating her.’

“We broke up.” Yang answered shortly. “But I’m doing good. Third year, so things are a bit tougher than before, but nothing I can’t handle.” Weiss felt another stab in her chest. Yang had broken up with this woman a while ago, and yet she was having a very civil conversation with her.

‘Oh, something I need to tell you since we’ve been out of touch. I use xe/xer pronouns now.’

“Sorry. So was this a recent decision?” Yang asked, cocking her head curiously, any hint of the animosity she’d displayed completely gone. 

‘Fairly recent. I mean, I’ve always thought gender was pretty weird, especially since I’m a changeling, so I thought I’d give it a try, and I quite like it. Besides, isn’t it rather appropriate I use neopronouns?’ Xe answered, shrugging xer shoulders as Yang stifled a snort.

“Of course you’d make a joke like that.” She chuckled, rolling her eyes and Weiss decided she really didn’t like this easy chemistry Yang had with Neo.

“Was your uncle free to talk?” She cut in before the other two could continue their conversation.

“Oh, yeah, he is. He’s just in his office.” Yang shuffled out of the booth, allowing Weiss to do the same. “Might see you once we’re done, Neo. And please don’t go making any more deals tonight.” Waving goodbye to Neo, Yang steered Weiss away from the table.

As the pair walked around the room, Weiss idly looking at the people they passed, something caught her eye. An oddly familiar flash of white-blonde hair that appeared for a brief moment in the dancing crowd before vanishing.

Weiss came to a halt, eyes scanning the crowd for the woman she’d caught a glimpse of. “Weiss? Something wrong?” Yang asked, having just noticed Weiss was no longer following her.

She was about to answer when the crowd moved again and Weiss got a proper look. The pit of her stomach dropped out from beneath her as she recognised the owner of the hair. Her sister’s girlfriend, Robyn was dancing with her other girlfriend, Fiona. If their presence in the club wasn’t damning enough, the very prominent pair of sheep ears on Fiona certainly was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm sure this is going to go juuuust fine and not lead to any poor decisions and angst. Also, there was no way I was going to write a RWBY fic and not have Neo in there. Xe will be making more appearances later down the line, just gotta find some more places for xer.
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and laughing at my dumb jokes. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being far too kind.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


	19. Chapter 19

Weiss felt nauseous, or at least she thought she did. It was rather hard to tell these days without the accompanying bodily function. She stood stock still on the edge of the dancefloor, watching the two women laughing together.

If they were here, that could mean only one thing. Weiss couldn’t see her sister anywhere in the crowd, nor was she sure she wanted to. Neither Robyn nor Fiona seemed to have noticed her, though she wasn’t even sure they’d recognise her if they did see her. Winter had kept them apart as much as possible, to the point where she had never invited Robyn around.

That reluctance suddenly made a lot more sense now, as she watched Fiona’s ears twitch happily when she was spun on the spot by Robyn. 

“Weiss! Your feet.” Weiss jumped a little at Yang’s sudden interruption and she looked down to see a slick of frost growing from her feet and heading toward the dancing women. “What’s wrong?”

“I need to get out of here.” Turning blindly away from Robyn and Fiona, Weiss forced her way through the crowd, not caring about the contact she made with the other club goers and their yelps of shock at the sudden chill.

She could hear Yang calling after her as she nearly tripped down the stairs, but she didn’t slow down. The door dryad was nowhere in sight, but the heavy wooden door still swung open obligingly for her as Weiss staggered out onto the street. She tried to take a few gasping breaths of air before remembering she couldn’t do that anymore.

“Weiss, what happened back there?” Yang had finally caught up with her, breathing a little hard as she looked imploringly at Weiss who just shook her head.

“Can you order a taxi or something, please? I’ll pay you back.” Weiss almost begged, hunched over with her hands resting on her knees.

“Yeah, sure.” Yang said hastily, pulling out her phone and tapping through to the app. Weiss’ mind continued to race as she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation, but none came. How long had Winter known? How long had she kept this from her? And what reason could she possibly have for doing so?

All these questions and more clamoured inside her head for answers, but none were apparent. That is, none except the one she didn’t want to contemplate. Blake couldn’t have been right about that though. She’d said it herself, it was just a rumour she heard from her abusive ex. Besides, if Winter was a part of some secret government operation, why was she dating someone with definite ties to the supernatural world Weiss had stepped into?

Unless she was leading them on.

No, Winter wasn’t like that. Weiss’ conversation with Blake may have placed some doubts in her mind as to how well she knew her sister, but she was certain Winter would never do something like that.

Lie about other things though... That was another matter entirely, and one that continued to plague her as Yang approached tentatively. “Taxi’s gonna be here in five. You sure you don’t want to tell me what happened back there?”

Weiss shook her head as her frantic mind now proceeded to fixate on Yang as well. Why was she being so kind to her? Yang had all these previous partners, ones who could do so much more for her physically. Weiss didn’t deserve this kindness, she and Yang could barely touch. She’d only suspected that Yang’s past relationships had been more than a little physical, but the interaction with Neo had all but confirmed it.

Nothing felt solid anymore. Weiss hated feeling like this. She hadn’t felt this lost and unsure since she’d come back. She was distracted from her thoughts by a searing touch on her shoulder and she jerked in shock.

“Sorry, wrong hand.” Yang apologised, shaking out her left hand as she extended the other for Weiss to take. “Our ride’s here.” Weiss accepted the hand in the hope it would help ground her, and it did, but only a little.

Yang led her out of the side alley and over to a car waiting by the kerb. There was a brief conversation between Yang and the driver confirming identities before Yang pulled open the back door for Weiss to get in.

Weiss crawled across the seats and pulled on her seatbelt as Yang got in behind her. The car pulled away as the two girls sat in awkward silence. Weiss rested her head against the car window and watched the street lights pass.

“Weiss, are you going to be okay?” Yang broke the silence between the pair and Weiss just shrugged. Her beloved sister had lied to her, there was no way around it. She felt almost adrift. Her sister had been her primary tether to the world of the living for so long. Now that was severed, she didn’t really have anyone.

No one except Yang, that is.

Tearing her gaze away from the window, Weiss glanced over at her girlfriend. There was something almost ethereal about the blonde, the way the shadows and orange light danced across her muscular form. Yang had a far better eye for fashion than Weiss did, though tonight she’d opted for something a little more casual. A sinfully tight yellow tank top that kept riding up just a little to expose a sliver of her abs, and a pair of figure hugging jeans that made Weiss feel… things.

Now that Weiss was looking at Yang like this, in the half dark of the taxi, she was starting to feel things she hadn’t felt since before she’d died. Things she’d honestly thought she’d be incapable of feeling ever again.

Carefully, Weiss reached out a hand and brushed it against Yang’s shoulder. As always, there was that amazing searing heat, only this time it was accompanied by another heat that somehow settled lower. Yang felt so real, so solid. Possibly the only solid thing Weiss had left, yet something about their relationship still felt ephemeral, and it wasn’t her.

“Weiss?” Yang was blinking in confusion, no doubt feeling the chill of Weiss’ brief touch. God, Weiss wanted her right now, needed her, even. She liked Yang a lot, more than she’d actually expressed. But they’d never be as close as Yang’s previous partners, not unless she did something about it.

“Yang, I want you.” The blonde blinked at the blunt statement and Weiss was sure she’d be blushing if she still had blood. “I want to make this official.”

“Weiss, I’m not sure this is the best time to talk about this.” Yang jerked her head at the driver who remained tactfully silent. “And I don’t know if you’re in the right state of mind to decide something like this.”

“You know I’m not drunk or anything like that, and I told you I wanted us to be intimate on the way here. Please, Yang.” Weiss all but begged, reaching out again to graze her hand across Yang’s bicep leaving an icy trail in its wake as she revelled in the burning sensation. “I need you, I need this to be real.”

“It is real, Weiss. We don’t need to do anything to prove that.” Yang told her, eyes still flicking nervously to the driver.

“But I want it. Even if I can’t do…  _ that _ . There are other things we can do.” Even though Weiss couldn’t blush, Yang definitely could and her face was slowly turning bright red at Weiss’ insinuations.

“Weiss, are you really sure?” Yang’s previous uncertainty seemed to be waning under Weiss’ cajoling, and the ghostly girl nodded vigorously. She needed this, something solid, something real that she could rely upon.

They fell silent as the ride wore on, although this time the space between them crackled with tension. Weiss was sorely tempted to continue to reach out and touch Yang, to reassure herself of the demon’s solidity and that she was doing the right thing. But she restrained herself. Better to save those burning touches for later rather than exhaust her pain tolerance now.

The taxi had just entered an area Weiss recognised was only a few minutes from their house when Yang’s phone buzzed. Pulling it out, Yang looked at it and swore loudly.

“Shit, I forgot to tell Ruby and the others we were leaving, hold on.” Yang hastily started typing as Weiss’ own phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out to see a text from Blake.

‘Where are you?! Ruby said she saw you and Yang leave after talking to Neo.’

‘I couldn’t stay. We’re on the way home now. You should stay and enjoy yourselves.’ Weiss sent off her reply and received a response in short order.

‘Did something happen with Neo?’ Weiss’ thumbs hesitated over the keyboard. Technically something had. Weiss was fairly certain she wouldn’t be pushing quite so hard for her and Yang to consummate their relationship if Yang hadn’t admitted that Neo’s thing was offering deals in exchange for sex.

Finally, Weiss settled on the fairly neutral message of ‘I’ll tell you later.’ before tucking her phone away and ignoring it as it vibrated a few more times before stopping.

“We’re here.” The driver spoke for the first time since they’d gotten in, and the two girls clambered out, thanked him and waited for him to drive off before approaching their front door. Yang paused with her key just about to be placed in the lock and turned back to Weiss.

“I know it seems like I’m going on about this a lot, but I really do want to make sure you want this right no-.” Yang was cut off by Weiss reaching up as high as she could on her tiptoes and slinging her arms around Yang’s neck to pull herself the last couple of centimetres and kiss the blonde.

Weiss’ arms burned, as did her lips as she worked them against Yang’s with her rather limited experience. She had no real idea if she was good at this or not, But Yang didn’t seem to be complaining as her hands dropped to Weiss’ waist, one leaving a searing imprint whilst the other was pleasantly cool.

Before too long, Weiss pulled away, not wanting to burn herself out, literally. Smirking up at a slightly stunned Yang, Weiss cocked her head. “Does that answer your question, Sunflower?”

“Yeah, yeah it does.” Yang mumbled as she reached out blindly for the key to let them into the house. “My room or yours?”

“Yours, it’s closer.” Weiss could have sworn she heard Yang whimper just a little as she swung the door open and practically ran for the stairs. Weiss closed the door behind her and followed at a more leisurely pace. Despite the burning need that had settled somewhere in her lower belly, Weiss wanted to savour this.

This wasn’t just about taking her mind off of Winter’s lies, it was about her and Yang. Weiss did feel a small pit of apprehension forming as she ascended the stairs and she saw the door to Yang’s room left invitingly open, light flickering within. She was really going to do this, not just her first time with Yang, but her first time, period.

Pausing momentarily, Weiss steeled herself before stepping into the room. Yang was waiting for her beside the bed, hands twisting nervously as she waited. “So… What exactly are we going to do? I mean, we can’t exactly touch each other.”

Weiss hesitated, she hadn’t really thought this far, and she’d pretty much expected Yang, who had infinitely more experience than Weiss did, to take the lead. What could they do together that didn’t involve them touching?

“You can start by taking your clothes off.” Weiss suggested, deciding that was a good place to start, and it gave her some time to think about what happened next. With a surprisingly shy smile, Yang reached down and delicately unbuttoned her jeans, sliding the zip down painfully slowly and shimmying them off her hips to reveal a pair of plain black boyshorts.

“If I’d known I was going to get lucky tonight, I’d have worn something sexier.” Yang confessed bashfully, a light pink suffusing her cheeks. Weiss has to disagree, however. She thought the plain shorts fit Yang better than any skimpy piece of lace ever would. The tank top was next to be discarded and Weiss wasn’t sure what she was more entranced by, the hard lines of Yang’s abs or her boobs, which continued to sway a little from the motion of undressing.

“Are you going to undress as well?” Yang asked, pausing as she was about to remove her boyshorts.

“I…” Weiss hesitated and a familiar twinge of discomfort tugged at the back of her mind. That part of her which had remained after all the changes she’d made to her appearance gave an involuntary twitch. “I’d rather not.”

“That’s okay.” Yang quickly reassured her, pulling her underwear down all the way, probably to distract Weiss. It worked  _ very  _ well, and Weiss finally got confirmation that Ruby had been right, Yang did indeed wax.

Kicking away the shorts, Yang stood somewhat awkwardly in front of Weiss, surprising her. Weiss had expected someone with as much experience as Yang to be a lot more confident. Instead, Yang shifted from one side to the other, arms crossed in front of her breasts and refusing to meet Weiss’ eyes.

“So what do you want me to do now?” She asked quietly, blush deepening as Weiss tried to think of what happened next. She was fairly certain this was the point she was supposed to start kissing and fondling Yang, but that was pretty much out of the question.

“Get on the bed.” Weiss instructed, though the way she said it made it sound more like a suggestion than an order. Yang eagerly complied, however, crawling onto her bed and turning over to watch Weiss as she followed.

“Well, here I am.” Yang spread herself out expectantly when Weiss didn’t say anything else. Any thoughts Weiss had about what to tell Yang to do next fled her as she was mesmerised by the gentle sway of Yang’s boobs. Weiss desperately wanted to crawl on top of Yang and lavish attention upon her, sucking and biting at her erect nipples. She restrained herself, however, pulling her legs underneath her as she continued to stare lasciviously at the blonde.

“Um, Weiss?” Yang asked, nervousness slipping into her voice now. “Am I doing okay?”

“You’re doing great, Sunflower.” Weiss answered quickly, tearing her eyes away from Yang’s body and twisting her hands awkwardly in her lap as she realised she had no idea what came next. “I’m sorry, I just don’t really know what I’m doing. This is my first time and I kind of expected you’d take the lead, since you’ve got way more experience than I do.” 

Yang sat up a little at Weiss’ admission, sympathy in her eyes. “Hey, it’s okay, maybe we shouldn’t have just jumped into this without discussing stuff first…”

“No!” Weiss almost shouted, she needed this connection with Yang, not to mention the phantom arousal was still there coiled in her belly. Other people didn’t have to discuss things, at least Weiss was pretty sure they didn’t.

Throwing caution to the wind, Weiss reached out to thumb one of Yang’s nipples, eliciting a sharp gasp from Yang as it stiffened immediately.

“Oh, that was... wow.” The blonde stuttered out as Weiss withdrew her hand and shook it out of habit to cool it down. “And I thought just kissing you felt good.”

“You liked that, did you, Sunflower?” Weiss’ confidence was reinvigorated by this surprising reaction from Yang who nodded vigorously.

“Very much.” Yang nodded with a gleeful grin. “Now I know what Velvet meant about temperature play being lots of fun.”

“Well, if you enjoyed it that much, Sunflower...” Weiss reached out again, this time for Yang’s other breast and she leaned eagerly into the touch. Unlike previously, Weiss didn’t simply brush her fingers over Yang’s skin, instead she gently cupped the surprisingly weighty breast as she did her best to ignore the burning in her hand.

“Oh fuuuuuck.” Yang moaned, back arching to press herself further into Weiss’ hand, only for the ghostly girl to retract it. The blonde let out a small whimper and tried to chase the feeling, but stopped in her tracks when Weiss held up a warning finger.

“Now, now, Sunflower. We both know there’s only so much touching we can do before neither of us can take it anymore, so I’m going to ration these.” Weiss wiggled her fingers for emphasis as Yang pouted, though Weiss could see the hint of a smile peeking through.

“But then how am I going to get off?” Yang huffed, looking expectantly at Weiss.

“I might not be able to touch you, but you can, Sunflower.” Weiss suggested, finding it easier and easier to slip into this role. Yang’s mock pout promptly switched to a gleeful smile as she spread her legs open and lay back against the pillows. Her hand snaked down past her abs, but paused only an inch away from her glistening lips as she bit her lip and hummed.

“Weiss, would you mind calling me pet instead of Sunflower?” She asked, eyes flitting away nervously. Weiss was momentarily taken aback by this request. Then again, she shouldn’t be too surprised given who Yang was friends with.

“If that’s what you want, pet.” Weiss smirk widened at the small shudder that passed through Yang before she plunged her hand down. Weiss would never admit it out loud, but she had indulged in a few videos of a more… risque nature, but none of them compared to the sight of Yang sighing in pleasure as her fingers slipped inside her.

The phantom heat that filled Weiss was even stronger now. It was still an odd sensation, reminiscent of the ones she’d felt in life, but without the sting of guilt and discomfort. She’d tried touching herself when she’d been alive, but every time she’d been filled with such a sense of wrongness that she’d stopped. Now though, here with Yang, listening to her breathy moans and with a body that more suited her, maybe things would be different.

Tentatively, Weiss reached down and pulled up her skirt to expose her admittedly rather plain white panties. A sudden intake of breath made her look up and see Yang had paused in her ministrations to look curiously at Weiss.

“I just want to see if it’s different now.” Weiss explained, feeling oddly defensive but Yang just shrugged and continued to play with herself, thumb now circling her clit. Shaking her head, Weiss refocused on herself, moving her free hand to pull down the panties. She could have just dismissed them as they were technically a part of her, but it felt more comfortable to do this. Weiss hadn’t actually seen this part of herself since her death, and had deliberately avoided doing so. If she could have, she would have taken a steadying breath before looking down.

Weiss took the lack of immediate revulsion as a good sign. Then again, she didn’t exactly feel positive about it either. Nevertheless, she persevered and grasped her soft penis. Again, no sense of discomfort, though the heat that had settled in her groin did spark a little.

A particularly loud moan caught Weiss’ attention and she looked up at Yang again who was in the middle of pinching her nipples whilst she insistently thrust a couple of fingers in and out of her slick pussy.

“Enjoying yourself, pet?” Weiss asked, distracted from her self-exploration and Yang nodded choppily.

“Gods, yes.” Yang whined in between frantic breaths. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this. You’re so hot, Mistress.” Weiss blinked, nonplussed at the term of deference but was even more surprised by a twitch from down below.

That had never happened since her demise, in theory it shouldn’t. Yet the evidence was right there, hardening in her loose grasp. She could have let herself get distracted by this revelation, but more squeaks of pleasure from Yang drew her attention. There were more important things right now, things like a very sexy blonde who for some reason found her attractive.

“Mistress? I kinda like that.” Yang let out another breathy whine as Weiss slinked closer, still not touching the blonde as she settled in between Yang’s spread legs. “Do you want to cum for your Mistress?”

“Yes, please.” Yang gasped out, her thumb frantically circling her clit, her fingers spreading her outer labia to collect more of her wetness to aid her rubbing.

“You sure, pet?” Weiss hummed in mock thought, now thoroughly enjoying this position of power she now held. “I’m not sure you deserve it.”

“Please, Mistress, please.” Yang begged, switching from her thumb to her index and middle fingers to rub herself faster and faster. “It’s been… okay, it’s only been a couple of days, but still.” Yang pouted as best she could only to fail miserably.

“Well, if it’s only been a couple of days since you last came, I’m sure you can wait a little longer.” Weiss wasn’t entirely sure if this was what she should be doing, but it seemed to be working as Yang let out a pitiful whine.

“Mistress, pleasepleaseplease. I’ll look so pretty cumming for you.” Yang fluttered her eyelashes at Weiss only to slam them shut and let out a loud keening as Weiss suddenly reached out a hand, grazing Yang’s own.

“Will you now?” Weiss asked, pulling her hand back as quickly as she’d reached it out, preventing Yang from gaining any more pleasure from the contact. Instead she returned to idly playing with herself as she watched Yang squirm in place.

“YesIwill. Please, I’mgettingclose let me cumplease, Mistress.” Yang babbled out, her words garbled by moaning as her fingers flew across her weeping slit and she ground her clit against her palm. The feeling that suffused Weiss was nothing short of euphoria, Yang begging her, needing her permission to cum.

“How close are you?”

“Very. Pleeeeeeeaaaaase!” Yang was nearly sobbing, her artificial hand had fallen away from her breasts to hold herself up as her hips bucked needily.

“Take your hand away.” Weiss ordered and Yang hesitated in following the instruction, looking up at Weiss in pleading confusion. “Now!” With a yelp, Yang withdrew her hand immediately only for it to be replaced by Weiss’ own, rubbing quick chilling circles around her clit.

“Oh fuuuuuuck!” Yang squealed as Weiss continued, ignoring the burning liquid that now coated her fingers as she mercilessly tormented the blonde with her chill touch.

“Cum for me, pet.” A few moments after the order was given, Yang arched back with a deafening shriek. Weiss couldn’t stand the heat of Yang’s orgasm and had to snatch her hand away as the blonde continued to ride it out.

Weiss rocked back on her heels to watch as Yang’s shudders slowly subsided, but was momentarily distracted by the fact that her hand was still burning. Looking down, she saw there was still some of the slick from Yang’s pussy clinging to her fingers continuing to warm her hand. Unable to think of any other option, Weiss let her hand decorporealise and she watched the liquid fall through her and onto the bed. She probably could have planned that a little better, but she was still riding the high of having brought Yang to orgasm.

“Ooooooh, that was fucking something.” Yang groaned, her shaking having finally ceased and pulled herself up to look at Weiss. “That was the best fuck I’ve had in a while and you barely touched me.”

“No, it can’t have been.” Weiss denied despite the swell of pride she felt at the praise. She’d done it, proved to the world she and Yang were together in every way. “It was my first time.”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it the best I’ve ever had.” Yang winked roguishly. The meek submissive girl was gone and the normal Yang was back. “But I’m only saying that so you’ll work harder next time.”

“Next time?”

“Yeah, of course.” Yang cocked her head in confusion. “Did you think this was going to be a one time deal?”

“No no no.” Waving her arms, Weiss reassured Yang hastily. “I just didn’t expect it to go quite so well.”

“Trust me, Weiss. That was incredible.” Yang stretched out her arms and legs, shaking them a little. “I’d love to cuddle with you after that, but I don’t think we can manage that. Are you going to be okay? I mean, you didn’t get to cum.”

“I’ll be fine.” Weiss shrugged, hiking her underwear back up and letting her skirts fall as she got off the bed. “I don’t know if I even can anymore.”

“Ouch, sorry. I keep forgetting about all that stuff you can’t do because of the whole being dead thing.” Yang winced, getting to her feet as well and grabbing a robe off a hook on the back of the door. “Right, I’m gonna go take a quick shower before I go to bed. I do not want to end up waking up late and having to meet your sister tomorrow morning smelling of sex.

All at once, the thing Weiss had been avoiding with her intimacy with Yang came flooding back. “Of course, I’ll leave you to it. Goodnight, Yang.” Weiss was about to leave when a cool hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her. Turning back around, expecting some kind of interrogation now that the heat of the moment was over, Weiss was instead surprised by a brief yet molten kiss.

“Good night, Snowdrop.” Farewells said, Yang released Weiss and breezed past her and down the stairs, leaving Weiss to return to her own room, where she fully decorporealised after emptying her pockets. A small frown twisting her face, Weiss floated over to her bed and lay back. She’d been feeling so good just now, reinforcing her connection with Yang and creating the solidity she’d just lost. Yet she still felt uncomfortable and lost with the knowledge that Winter had lied to her.

Groaning, Weiss flipped over in mid-air and tried to drift into her fugue state. Winter was still coming, and no matter how much sex she had with Yang, she had no idea what she was going to do about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I've finally earned that explicit rating. Gotta say, it is not easy writing sex when the two people can barely touch each other. The upcoming confrontation with Winter is going to be interesting for sure and we find out exactly what's going on. 
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being super helpful. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being something of an inspiration for this.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


	20. Chapter 20

Weiss did not feel good the next morning. It was after nine by the time she drifted out of her fugue state and she didn’t feel refreshed like she normally did after going into fugue. She was a little blurry on the events of last night, as she often was in the mornings after drifting off. She did, however, recall with great clarity exactly what she’d done with Yang and exactly how Yang sounded when she came. The memory alone would have been more than enough to bring a blush to Weiss’ cheeks if she could still blush.

She could hear the faint sounds of people moving around downstairs, so Weiss forwent using the stairs and simply floated down through the floor.

“Fucking shit!” There was a loud yelp from behind her and Weiss whirled around to see Blake fumbling with a bowl of cereal and looking more than a little worse for wear. “Weiss, don’t do that!”

“Sorry.” Weiss apologised, floating to the floor and recorporealising. “Didn’t think.”

“It’s okay, just... I think we should all have a talk about house boundaries since you can kind of ignore locked doors and stuff. And because you and Yang are fucking now.”

“What?!” Weiss squeaked in shock, her eyes widening in fear. “How did you know?”

“Did I not tell you Faunus have psychic powers?” Blake smirked evilly. “I know everything about you Weiss, your deepest fears and insecurities.”

“Don’t listen to her, Weiss, she’s just fucking with you.” Yang’s voice called out from the living room. “I hope you don’t mind, but I told her and Ruby. They were kind of concerned after we left so early last night.”

“Not so looooooooud.” Another voice whined from the living room and Weiss slipped past Blake, shooting the mischievous girl a glare as she went. Yang was sitting comfortably at the dining table eating her own bowl of cereal whilst Ruby was slumped in a heap on the sofa, and Weiss got the distinct impression she’d probably been there since getting back from the club.

“Are you okay, Ruby?” Weiss asked in mild concern, and Ruby just let out a groan, waving her hand in a so-so way.

“Penny’s been looking after her, she just popped out to get some paracetamol and stuff.” Yang explained, chewing on another spoonful of cereal before her expression became rather sheepish. “Are you okay that I told them about us?”

“I don’t mind them knowing.” Weiss answered slowly. “I would have preferred to be there when you did though.”

“Sorry, I figured you wanted a lie in, what with your sister coming in a bit.” Weiss’ heart sank as Yang’s words reminded her of everything else that had happened the last night.

“Right, she’ll probably be here soon. Ruby, would you mind getting dressed?” The younger girl groaned again and tumbled off the sofa in an undignified heap before crawling towards her room muttering something unintelligible.

“I didn’t really feel like making them breakfast.” Yang explained, in between spoonfuls of cereal. “I didn’t actually wake up until like half an hour ago too. You really did a number on me last night.”

Weiss couldn’t help but squeak in embarrassment, and there was a small laugh from Blake as she slipped into the living room and flopped onto the recently vacated sofa.

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to get used to that.” Blake snickered, tail twitching in amusement. “We’re all pretty open about our sex lives here, or lack of one, as the case may be.”

“Hey, you’ll find someone soon.” Yang reassured the Faunus, but Blake just shrugged.

“I’m fine on my own.” Before Yang could reply, Blake stretched out and got up from the sofa again, and Weiss could almost feel the discomfort radiating off her. “I’m gonna go put my beanie on before your sister gets here. No point hitting her with the whole cat ears thing right out the gate.” Blake vanished up the stairs with a shake of her tail, leaving Weiss and Yang alone in the living room.

“Is she okay?” Weiss asked anxiously, her gaze lingering on the stairwell.

“I think she’s just feeling a little lonely is all.” Yang shrugged, a small frown twisting her face. “Maybe I shouldn’t have been quite so… ecstatic about last night.”

“You’re allowed to be happy about good things that happen to you.” Weiss told her girlfriend, settling in the seat opposite Yang. “But maybe toning it down wouldn’t hurt, for a little while, at least.”

“Mmmm.” Yang hummed, stirring her cereal around its bowl, frown still in place. “Speaking of last night, do you want to talk about what happened?”

“What is there to talk about? We had sex, or at least as close as we really could.” Weiss tried to deflect, despite knowing what Yang really meant.

“Not that, though we should also talk about that sometime as well.” Yang shook her head, eyes lowered and watching her cereal turn to mush in the milk “I meant what happened at the club that made you want to leave so suddenly.”

“Oh…” Weiss squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. She wasn’t entirely sure what she’d hoped to accomplish by playing dumb, but now she had no idea of what she should do.

“Weiss, I get it if you don’t want to talk about it.” Yang gave Weiss an odd look that she couldn’t quite decipher. “But I care about you a lot. I’m your girlfriend, and you seemed quite upset when you ran out of there. Was it something Neo said?”

“No, not really.” Weiss didn’t want to lie and she wasn’t really lying, but she doubted Yang would be best pleased about Weiss’ motivations. “I… I saw my sister’s girlfriend.”

“What?”

“At the club, I saw Robyn and her other girlfriend Fiona.” Weiss confessed, the words spilling out in a rush.

“But, I thought…” Yang blinked in confusion, setting down her spoon and cocking her head at Weiss. “I thought she didn’t know about us?”

“That’s what she told me.” Weiss mumbled miserably, hanging her head. “And before you ask, it was definitely them.” She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. She’d been able to ignore the feelings of despair before, but now they came back in full force. “She lied to me, Yang, she must have. I trusted her, she was my keeper and the only person I had, and she lied!”

“Woah, Weiss!” Yang shot to her feet at Weiss’ near scream of betrayal and rushed around the table. Weiss continued to wail, however, burying her face in her hands.

“I’m sorry!”

“What?” Yang was incredibly confused now as she reached out with her wooden arm to rub Weiss’ shoulder comfortingly. “Why are you sorry?”

“Because I used you!” The confession tumbled out before Weiss could stop it. “I needed to feel close to someone, I wanted to feel close to  _ you _ .”

“Weiss, I don’t understand.” Yang’s hand had stilled and Weiss chanced a glance at her, and she felt even worse when she saw the look on Yang’s face. The dawning comprehension and hurt.

“I-I know I can’t do things for you like your past partners did.” Weiss mumbled, looking away again. “That I’m not good enough for you. But I want to try, and I need you, Yang.”

“Weiss, I-.” Yang started but she paused, and seemed to be searching for the right words. She was prevented from finding them though, as Ruby sloped out of her room, now fully dressed and still looking rather hungover.

“Okay, I’m dressed.” She grumbled and proceeded to crumple over the arm of the sofa. “But I reserve the right to be grumpy and irritable, I don’t have to make a good impression.” She turned her head to look at Weiss and Yang. “You two okay? You look like something bad just went down.”

“We’re fine, Ruby.” Yang pulled back from Weiss and returned to her seat, making the ghostly girl feel even worse. “We just need to talk some things out.” Weiss winced at this promise of further discussion.

“If you say so.” Ruby shrugged awkwardly and reburied her face in the sofa cushions. Weiss shot Yang a nervous look, but the other girl looked away and refused to meet Weiss’ gaze. “When is your sister getting here?” Ruby asked, voice muffled by the sofa.

“She’s supposed to be here by ten…” Weiss looked around the room for a clock before remembering that they hadn’t put any in the living room and she didn’t have her phone on her.

“It’s 9:40.” Yang supplied, checking her phone but still not looking at Weiss. The ghost had a far more pressing thing to with though.

“9:40!?” She shrieked, jumping to her feet in a panic and ignoring the moan of discomfort from Ruby. “She’ll be here in five minutes!”

“Weeeeeissssss, there’s twenty minutes before ten, not five.” Ruby groaned, looking up at the freaking out girl.

“You don’t know Winter, she’s always early for everything. If she says she’ll meet you at a time, she’ll really be there fifteen minutes beforehand at least!” Looking down at herself, Weiss realised she was still wearing her clubbing dress, wholly inappropriate for meeting with her probable liar of a sister. Shit, she’d hoped she’d have more time to think about how she was going to confront Winter about her deception and now she didn’t have any!

“Hey, Weiss, calm down.” Weiss jumped in shock as Yang spoke up. The blonde still looked quite upset but there was a note of concern in her voice. “It’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that.” Weiss fired back instinctively, though she regretted it immediately. “Sorry, I just-.”

“Weiss is right.” Blake interrupted, emerging from the stairs with a deep frown on her face and a beanie crammed on her head to hide her ears. “I heard everything.  _ Everything. _ ” She looked at Weiss pointedly, promising there would definitely be consequences for upsetting Yang, before looking at the others. “If Winter has been lying and known all about our kind, then we should be prepared for the worst.”

“Wait, what?” Ruby blinked in shock and looked over at Weiss.

“Blake, I’ve told you before, there’s no secret government organisation. That was just Adam being paranoid and trying to control you.” Yang said bluntly and Blake’s scowl darkened.

“You don’t know that!” She insisted, glowering at Yang. “It wasn’t just Adam who said it either. Lots of the White Fang had stories about disappearances and the like.”

“They were still White Fang though!” Yang fired back irritably. “Who do you think they learned it from other than Adam?”

“It doesn’t matter, it still exists as a possibility!” As the argument continued, Weiss looked helplessly over at Ruby, who still looked rather confused by the whole ordeal.

“Don’t look at me, I have no idea what’s going on and I have a massive fucking headache.” Ruby grumbled, watching the growing fight without intervening. An interruption came, however, in the form of a knock at the door.

“That’s probably her!” Weiss squeaked as Yang and Blake froze mid-shout. “Just, pray that Blake’s wrong about the whole government conspiracy thing.” Weiss swiftly walked to the front door and closed her eyes momentarily as she steeled herself for this. Reaching out and grasping the handle, Weiss swung the door open and plastered her best sisterly smile on.

“Winter! Hi!” Weiss’ composure was immediately tested, not only by coming face to chest with her traitorous sister, but the subjects of said betrayal too. “You brought Robyn and Fiona too.”

“They insisted on coming. They’ve got friends in the city and wanted to see how my little sis was doing.” Winter explained, looking oddly pained, her eyes flicking to look past Weiss and into the house, where Ruby could just about be seen slumped on the sofa.

“Hi, Weiss, it’s been a while.” Fiona chirped from behind Robin, the shorter woman wearing a large white beanie that fully covered most of her head and ears. It seemed so obvious now to Weiss, having spent so long with Blake out and about at the university, that Fiona was hiding non-human ears under her hat.

“Yeah, months, I’d say.” Robyn added with that usual charming smile of hers, and Weiss was sorely tempted to correct her that she’d seen Robyn far far more recently than she thought.

“Well, come in and meet the housemates, then.” Weiss tried to maintain her image of a happy host as she led the way into the living room. There was still a light tension in the air between Blake and Yang as they sat on opposite sides of the room, with Ruby sitting awkwardly in the middle.

“Hello, Winter.” Blake’s voice was almost as frosty as the older woman’s namesake, and she gave the younger woman a curious look.

“Hello, Blake. How are you?”

“I’ve been better.” Blake answered shortly, keeping her gaze fixed upon Winter, her eyes flicking aside momentarily to take in Fiona and Robyn. “I didn’t know you were bringing company.”

“We’ll be gone in a few.” Fiona reassured her. “We just wanted to pop by and see how Weiss was doing.”

“Weiss never really mentioned you two, other than that Winter was dating you.” Ruby piped up, eyeing up Fiona inquisitively. There was a moment of silence where Fiona and Robyn exchanged glances before they burst out laughing.

“Oh no, Winter and I aren’t dating.” Fiona clarifying in between soft giggles. “I’m not her type, for starters.”

“We work better as friends anyway.” Winter added, rolling her eyes and jabbing Robyn in the side with her elbow.

“Yeah, friends who are dating the same woman and will probably end up sharing a bed when you finally get around to moving in with us.” Winter noticeably flinched at this, and her smile became more than a little strained.

“Well, you’ve seen Weiss is well, shouldn’t you two get going?” She suggested with forced lightness.

“But we haven’t had a look around yet.” Robyn protested, examining the room with a nostalgic smile. “Don’t you remember when we were all living in one of these sorts of places when we were at uni?”

“I remember.” Winter’s smile was still rather forced and she looked to Weiss with pleading eyes that Weiss didn’t understand. Why was Winter trying to get rid of Robyn and Fiona anyway? The obvious answer was that she must have been worried about them discovering that Winter had been lying to them this whole time.

“Do you want some tea? We’ve got some in the kitchen.” Weiss offered, completely ignoring the look of betrayal on Winter’s face. If Winter was going to lie and betray her, then Weiss could do just the same.

“Sure, I’ll never turn down a cuppa.” Robyn smiled warmly at Weiss, who returned it to the best of her ability before heading into the kitchen.

“I’ll help you with that, Weiss.” Winter said as she followed after Weiss.

“No, you’re a guest.”

“I insist.” Winter pushed the door too behind her before whirling on Weiss. “What are you playing at?” She hissed at Weiss.

“I’m trying to be a gracious host, and I’ve barely seen Robyn and Fiona since I came back.” Weiss simpered, taking some perverse joy in turning the tables on her lying sister. Weiss grabbed the kettle and started to fill it up when Winter grabbed her by the arm.

“Weiss, if they stick around for too long they might find out.”

“Find out what, Winter?” Weiss asked as innocently as she could as she finished filling the kettle and put it back on its stand to boil.

“Find out about you and your housemates of course.” Winter pulled back and gave Weiss an odd look as Weiss did her best to school her expression. “What else could I mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe that you’ve been lying to them?” Weiss’ ability to hold her temper with Winter was growing thin, how could she stay so calm after all her lies?

“That was to protect you.”

“Oh? So it wasn’t to protect yourself?” Weiss snapped, whirling to face her sister. “After all your lies.”

“What are you talking about?!” Weiss nearly scoffed at Winter’s clearly fake confusion.

“I know you’ve been lying to me, Winter. You’ve known about this supernatural stuff long before I told you.” She snarled angrily, ice starting to slick across the kitchen floor as she stopped trying to keep her anger in check. “I know about Robyn and Fiona.”

“Know what?!” Weiss faltered momentarily. Winter couldn’t be that good of an actor to keep this charade up.

“That they’re like me, that they’re a part of my world. I saw them at a club last night, a club just for us.” Winter didn’t respond, something flashed in her eyes and she set her jaw before turning on her heel and marching out of the kitchen.

“Oh hey, Winter, these girls were just telling us about their courses.” Robyn paused as she noticed the thunderous look on Winter’s face as Weiss followed her out of the kitchen. “Babe? Is something wrong?”

“Is it true?” Winter growled out, glaring at her girlfriend and metamour.

“Babe, you’re kind of worrying me.” Robyn glanced over at Fiona who shrugged.

“My sister just told me she saw you at a club last night, and unlike her, I know my sister would never lie to me.” Weiss winced at the implication as Robyn and Fiona shared a shocked look. “So, tell me, what are you?”

“Winter, we were going to tell you.” Robyn tried as Weiss felt the pit of her stomach fall out from beneath her. Had Winter genuinely not known about Robyn and Fiona? “Fiona, I guess the cat’s out of the bag.” Fiona nodded and reluctantly reached up and removed her beanie revealing her ears.

There was a loud sigh from Winter as she closed her eyes. “We’ve been dating for five years now and you didn’t think to tell me you’re not actually human?”

“I was going to.” Robyn repeated, anguish on her face. “We were waiting until you moved in with us. We needed to keep ourselves safe.”

“Five years, Robyn!” Winter thundered, eyes flashing with rage. “I trusted you! I gave up so much for you and you hid this from me!”

“Winter I-.” Weiss tried to intervene, the guilt at what she’d inadvertently done.

“Don’t you start!” Winter rounded on her sister. “You honestly thought I hid them from you? That was lying to you about it for whatever reason?”

“Winter-.”

“Do you have any idea how much I have sacrificed to make things work?” Winter asked furiously. “And yet you still thought I would lie to you?!”

“I-.” Weiss tried but was cut off yet again.

“Save it.” Winter spat, before turning on her heel and marching to the front door. She threw it open and stalked outside before slamming it shut, leaving behind a very awkward and tense atmosphere. None of them spoke for what felt like hours, the only thing breaking the silence was the kettle beeping to let them know it had boiled.

Then, there was a noise at the door and Weiss looked over hopefully in case it was her sister, but instead it was Penny, who cheerfully trotted into the house bearing some shopping bags.

“Salutations!” She chirped, placing them down and taking in the now very sombre room. “Did I miss something?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That certainly could have gone better. This is what happens when you assume, Weiss, they make an ass out of 'u' and 'me', though more you in this case. Poor Winter though, things aren't exactly going great for her. Hopefully, they'll be able to start resolving stuff soon.
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being super adorable. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and always being there for me.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


	21. Chapter 21

“I should go after her.” Weiss was already walking towards the door, intent on chasing her sister down. 

“I’d let her cool off for a bit. You know Win likes her space when she gets angry.” Robyn called her back, and Weiss halted. She was correct about Winter’s tendency to isolate herself whenever she was upset. The older woman looked deeply unhappy about what had just happened, and barely acknowledged Fiona’s attempt to comfort her with a side hug.

“Given the walking mannequin, I assume you girls are a part of our world.” Robyn sighed deeply, collapsing onto one of the sofas and rubbing at her temples. The housemates all exchanged glances and nodded as Fiona joined her girlfriend on the sofa snuggling into her side, ears twitching.

Blake went first, pulling off her beanie as well and freeing her tail. Neither Robyn nor Fiona batted an eye at this, though Robyn did raise an eyebrow as Weiss decorporealised and floated a couple of inches into the air. “I did wonder how you were able to get your acne to clear up so well.” Weiss shrugged, rather embarrassed by the reminder of her less than stellar skin condition when she was alive.

“I think there are a lot of explanations owed to people.” Yang suggested tentatively, only for Weiss to snort.

“The only person who’s owed any sort of explanation isn’t here right now.” She shot a glare at Robyn and Fiona. “Five years?”

“We wanted to tell her.” Robyn repeated, guilt still plainly written on her face. “And we were going to tell her last summer when we invited her to move in with us. We had it all planned and everything, but then she changed her mind at the last minute.” Robyn looked up at Weiss, and she felt a stab of guilt as she pieced together the timeline.

“That’s still four years though.” She argued, pushing down her guilt. It wasn’t her fault Robyn didn’t trust Winter enough to tell her about this supernatural stuff.

“I don’t think you know just how big of a thing this is to tell someone about us.” Fiona piped up eyeing Weiss as well. “It’s not something you just tell someone lightly.”

“But-.”

“She kinda has a point, Weiss.” Yang interrupted, looking rather sheepish. “I mean, if you hadn’t found out, we weren’t planning on telling you at all, and I know you weren’t intending to tell us about your status as deceased either.”

“Well, no…” Weiss admitted.

“And it probably didn’t help that Winter works for the government and that agency.” Blake added, ignoring Yang’s loud sigh.

“Wait, what agency?” Robyn looked incredibly confused by this, which was a refreshing change from the guilt and upset.

“The secret government agency that tries to track us down and experiment on us?” Even Blake was starting to sound a little unsure of herself, compounded by the snort of amusement from Fiona.

“You do know that doesn’t exist, right? You’ve been reading too much Hellboy or something.” She shook her head in amused exasperation as Blake huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms.

“They are real.” She muttered, though she didn’t say anything further.

“Getting back to the original conversation, you have to agree that, even if it’s not something you just tell people willy nilly, four years is a long time to be in a relationship and not tell them you’re… what are you exactly, Robyn?”

“Oh, I’m a witch. I do some magic and that’s about it.” She shrugged, snapping her fingers and summoning a small flame in her palm before snuffing it out. “And as I will keep saying, we were going to tell Winter. We trusted her enough to move in with us, but then she started pulling away, we saw her less and less and we had no idea what was going on.”

Again, Weiss felt a twinge of guilt. She knew exactly why Winter had been pulling away from her girlfriend, and she got the distinct impression everyone else in the room other than Penny knew too but was too polite to say anything.

This was all her fault. She’d made some terrible assumptions and was only just now realising just how much her return had affected Winter’s life.

“I need to find Winter.” She announced to the room, dropping to the floor and walking to the front door.

“I still think you should leave her alone.” Robyn called out, but Weiss ignored her this time.

“No, I am going to find my sister and I am going to apologise to her and beg for her forgiveness.” Not paying attention to the others' calls as well, Weiss pulled open the door and left the house. The moment the door closed behind her, she realised how poorly she’d thought this out. She had no idea where Winter could have gone and she hadn’t brought her phone or even her house keys with her, but she couldn’t very well slink back into the house to collect them after leaving like she had.

Trying and failing to sigh in annoyance, Weiss strode out of the front garden and stopped for a moment, looking up and down the hill wondering which way to go. Winter’s car was still here, so she couldn’t have gone far. After deliberating for a few moments, Weiss started up the hill towards the park.

It was as good a place to start as any, and Weiss remembered the few times back when Winter still lived at the manor and was upset, she’d go and hide out in the gardens. Weiss hadn’t been back to the park since her almost exorcism. The salt had been washed away by now, but it still felt uncomfortable to be here, too many bad memories made in such a short time.

Nevertheless, she steeled herself against them and walked into the park. There were a few people walking about. It was a rather fine Sunday morning, after all, and the dog walkers were out in force. The park was very flat and open, so Weiss didn’t have to go far before she spotted her sister’s familiar white hair almost glowing in the sunlight.

She was actually rather surprised she’d been able to find Winter so quickly, though she had to wonder if some higher being was toying with her, as Winter was seated on the same bench Weiss had when she’d been accosted by those men.

Weiss approached the bench quietly from behind, worried Winter might try to make a run for it if she saw Weiss coming. As she got quite close though, Winter stiffened and spoke without looking back.

“Why are you here, Weiss?”

“How did you know?” Weiss asked, giving up on the pretense of sneaking and walking around the bench to sit beside her sister.

“I could feel the temperature drop when you got close.” Winter explained, not looking at Weiss, her gaze fixed firmly on the middle distance. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m here to apologize.” Weiss hung her head. “I’m sorry, Winter, I shouldn’t have just assumed you were lying to me.”

“It was a perfectly reasonable assumption.” Winter shrugged, still refusing to look at her sister. “I’d probably do the same if I was in your position. Even though I know you’d never lie to me.” Weiss winced at the implicit accusation.

“It’s not just that.” Weiss mumbled, hands fisting in her skirt. “I’m sorry I’m such a burden on you. I ruined your relationship with Robyn, and was selfish, and I never once thought about how I was affecting you and your life.”

There was a deep sigh from Winter, and Weiss looked over to see her shaking her head. “I was never angry about that. You know that, Weiss.”

“But, you were going to move in with Robyn, and I made you give that up.” Weiss insisted, leaning in and gazing up at Winter with pleading eyes. “You probably gave up lots of things just so you could take care of me last year.”

“And I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.” Winter finally looked down at her sister and Weiss was shocked to see tears glistening in her eyes. “You’re my baby sister, Weiss. I failed you when you were still alive. I refuse to do so again.”

“You didn’t fail me.” Weiss tried but Winter cut her off.

“Weiss, you  _ died _ ! And even before that, I never wanted anything to do with you. I just saw you as my annoying younger brother.” Winter groaned, pulling one of her legs up to rest her boot on the bench. “I actually resented you, just a little, because father favoured you over me, because I was a woman.” Winter let out a humourless laugh. “It seems almost ironic now, given your current state.”

“It is, a little.” Weiss hadn’t exactly been blind to her father’s blatant favouritism towards her and Whitley, but she definitely hadn’t known about Winter’s resentment towards her about it. “I’m sorry, Winter.”

“If anything, I should be the one apologising for letting our father’s shitty attitudes colour my view of you. I was a bad sister when you were alive.” Winter looked down at the ground, focusing on a small company of ants marching across the path. “Maybe if I’d been a better sister, you’d still be alive.”

“You don’t know that, and you’re not being fair to yourself.” Weiss reached out to take Winter’s hand and though the older woman flinched a little at her chill touch, she didn’t pull away. “And I think we got off-track here. I was supposed to be the one apologising, not you.”

“Right, of course.” Winter reached up with her free hand and swiped at her face, wiping away the unshed tears. “Do you even know what you’re apologising for, if not for inadvertently disrupting my life?”

“I…” Weiss hesitated, what was she actually saying sorry for? Winter didn’t blame her for her return or her assumptions about Winter knowing about Robyn. “I don’t know.” She finally admitted, hanging her head. “I just feel like I have to apologise for something, even if I don’t know what it is.”

“I’m familiar with the feeling.” The corner of Winter’s mouth twitched up. “Though I tend to find such a feeling comes from wanting to alleviate one’s own guilt rather than making amends.” Weiss nodded somewhat reluctantly.

“So what should I be trying to make amends for?”

Winter sighed and rested her chin upon her raised knee. “In other circumstances, I might be tempted to tell you that you need to figure that out for yourself, but because most of this could have been avoided by everyone communicating properly, I’ll just tell you.” She looked over at Weiss and took a deep breath. “It hurt that you didn’t trust me, that you thought I would keep Robyn and Fiona’s nature a secret from you.”

“Oh…” Weiss squirmed guiltily on the spot.

“I turned down moving in with Robyn so you could have a place to stay and be safe. I had to turn down a promotion because it required more extensive background checks.” Winter continued to explain and Weiss sank deeper and deeper into herself and she considered going incorporeal so she could just sink into the ground and stay there.

“I’m so sorry I did that to you, Winter.” The older woman sighed deeply and shook her head.

“Were you not listening earlier? I don’t blame or begrudge you all of that. Yes, it was kind of a pain putting several large chunks of my life on hold to help look after you, but I don’t regret doing it.” Winter stood up and stretched out before looking over her shoulder at Weiss. “I sacrificed a lot to keep you safe, and that after all I did for you, you thought that I wouldn’t trust you?”

“I’m sorry, Winter. I should have trusted you.”

“It’s okay, Weiss, it’s okay.” Winter reached down and patted Weiss on the head. “We’re okay.”

“You sure?” Weiss asked miserably, looking up at her sister. “What about you and Robyn?”

“... I’m not sure.” Winter looked away and over Weiss’ head in the direction of the house. “I guess I should probably go back and talk to her about it, try and be some kind of adult about this.”

Taking this as a sign they were done here, Weiss got up from the bench and wrapped Winter in a tight freezing hug. “Love you, Winter,”

“I love you too, Weiss. Now, can you please let go of me before I freeze?” With a small squeak of apology, Weiss released Winter, who shook herself out and started back toward the house. “I wish I knew why they left it for so long to even consider telling me.”

“Blake thought it was because you actually work for a secret government agency that experiments on people like us.” Weiss shrugged and Winter stared at her in disbelief.

“What? That’s utter nonsense, and I should know. I work for the people who spy on everyone and trust me, if they don’t have a clue, no one in the government does.”

“Well, that’s a relief at least.” Weiss relaxed a little, she wasn’t sure how pleased Blake would be to have yet another nail in the coffin of her theory. “Not the part where you’re spying on everyone though. That’s mildly concerning.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly have many options.” Winter shrugged as they left the park, Weiss’ insides loosening up a little as they left its bounds and started down the hill. They got to the house in next to no time, but just as Weiss reached out to ring the doorbell, Winter caught her arm.

“Do… Do you think they’ll be mad at me, for storming off like I did?”

“They don’t have any room to be angry at you.” Turning to face her sister, Weiss folded her arms and set her jaw. “They know you like to have your space when you get upset, and if they are mad at you, they’ll have to answer to me.”

“Thanks, Weiss.” Winter smiled wanly as Weiss reached out and rang the doorbell. A few moments passed, then it was flung open to reveal a rather anxious-looking Yang.

“Weiss, you’re back!” Weiss found herself suddenly wrapped in a burning embrace that lasted a few seconds before Yang was forced to let go, wincing in pain as she withdrew. “We should work on that sometime.” She grinned sheepishly, then noticed Winter standing behind her sister. “Oh, hey, Winter.”

“Hello, Yang.” Winter shuffled awkwardly on the spot. “Are Robyn and Fiona still here?”

“Yeah, they’re talking to Rubes and Penny. You wanna come in?” Winter nodded, slipped past Yang into the hallway and walked to the living room, leaving the two younger women alone with each other. “She okay?”

“I think so.” Weiss shrugged, not really able to give a better insight. “We talked for a while in the park and I think we’ve managed to patch things up for now.”

“That’s good.” Yang shifted uneasily in the doorway. “Can we talk about last night?”

Weiss shook her head. “Not right now, and definitely not here. I want to make sure Winter’s okay.” Yang nodded somewhat reluctantly.

“Okay, sure.” Weiss smiled slightly at her girlfriend before slipping past her and heading to the living room, where she found Blake, Ruby and Penny draped over various pieces of furniture, and no sign of Winter or her partners.

“They went to talk in the kitchen.” Blake answered the unasked question, flicking her tail to the closed door. “I’m trying not to eavesdrop, but it sounds like things are going okay.” Weiss nodded in relief and dropped into one of the empty chairs at the dining table as Yang returned to the room as well.

“So, at the risk of changing the subject too much, there is an important event on Thursday.” Yang announced to the room. “Two, actually.”

Weiss blinked curiously, trying to remember what was happening on Thursday. “It’s… Halloween, right?”

“Indeed, that is the event most people would think of for that day.” Yang confirmed. “But there’s another event then that is only really celebrated by us.”

“Oh, because it’s Halloween, is there some kind of magical significance to it?” There was a brief pause then the other four burst out laughing.

“No, there’s nothing special or magical about Halloween, that’s just what normal people think.” Blake explained in between chuckles as Weiss frowned.

“Says the woman who thinks there’s a secret government agency out to get us.” That shut Blake up almost immediately and she sat up to scowl back at Weiss.

“Whatever.” She grumbled, crossing her arms and looking away. Weiss rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Yang.

“So what is happening on Halloween, then?”

“It’s Ruby’s birthday!” Yang cheered and Ruby raised her hands weakly in celebration.

“Woo.” She said unenthusiastically before returning to nursing her headache.

“So, we’re celebrating her birthday, and also making up for kinda ignoring Rubes these last few weeks.” Yang explained whilst Ruby frowned.

“I told you, it’s fine. I was being dumb.” She insisted but Yang simply shook her head.

“No, you weren’t, your feelings were valid and it’s your 19th birthday, so we’ve gotta spoil you. You only turn 19 once, ya know.”

“Yang, you turn every age once.” Blake pointed out, only for Yang to wave her hand dismissively.

“Pfft, whatever. So anyway, we’ve gotta celebrate Rubes’ birthday and wouldn’t ya know it, it’s a Masquerade meeting that evening, so we’re all gonna make a whole thing out of it.” She explained with a grin. “Presents, maybe some fun games or something, you know, normal birthday stuff.”

“I don’t know…” Ruby mumbled into the sofa cushion. “That sounds like a lot.”

“I think it will be fun, Ruby!” Penny chirped with an uncanny smile. “I have never attended a big party before, and I would love to celebrate your birthday with you and your friends.”

“I guess it could be okay.” Ruby sounded more receptive to the party with Penny’s encouragement.

“Great! I need to hash out some more details with Coco, but I’ll let you all know the specifics soon.” Yang’s excitement was incredibly contagious and Weiss couldn’t help but share her grin. Before any more planning could take place, the kitchen door opened and the three guests emerged.

“Everything alright?” Weiss asked tentatively, though the lack of shouting or dark looks was a positive sign.

“Yeah, we talked some stuff out, a lot of stuff, actually.” Robyn rubbed at the back of her neck awkwardly. “We’re all gonna head out now, talk about this stuff in private.” She shot a glance over at Blake who merely shrugged unapologetically. “It was good to meet you all. Ruby, I’d love it if you could send me a copy of the sigil work you’ve been doing on Penny’s body.”

Ruby raised a weak thumbs up as Weiss pulled Winter aside a little. “You’re going already?”

“We’ve got a lot of things we still need to discuss and we really shouldn’t do it here.” Winter explained quietly, glancing over at her girlfriend. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer, but I promise I’ll stay in contact more now.”

“Why did you stop calling me?” Weiss asked. With everything that had happened since last night, it had completely skipped her mind.

“...It’s complicated.” Winter sighed, shaking her head. “And I don’t really have time to explain it right now. I promise I’ll call you this evening. If I don’t, you call me.”

“Okay…” Weiss mumbled. She couldn’t help but feel a little fobbed off by this. “I guess I’ll talk to you then.” With a small smile, Winter pulled Weiss into a quick hug before following Robyn and Fiona out of the room. With a few calls of farewell, the front door was closed, leaving the housemates and Penny alone in the living room.

“Well, that definitely could have gone worse.” Yang piped up, flopping onto the sofa beside Blake. The others nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

“I have some work I need to do. I’ll see you girls later.” Weiss excused herself from the group. As she passed by Yang, she wondered if it was appropriate to kiss her goodbye. She definitely wanted to, but ultimately decided against it.

Silently, Weiss ascended the stairs back to her room, hoping that Winter would actually call her that evening and not skip out on her as she did before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like things are starting to resolve on this front, they've still got a little ways to go though. If it somehow isn't clear as a running thread throughout all of my writing, I'm just gonna say it outright. _Healthy communication is important in relationships of any kind._ Also poor Blake getting dunked on for her paranoia, I'm sure that won't be a problem later on.
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being just the most amazing at it. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading, even if she won't let me have supreme power.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


	22. Chapter 22

Weiss spent the rest of the morning in her room working on assignments. She’d let herself fall behind in them since joining the Black Masquerade, being too preoccupied with all the new information and then the issues with Winter.

Groaning in frustration, Weiss flopped back in her chair and allowed herself to decorporealise. This was far too much effort for someone with about a hundred different things rushing through her head. The things Winter had said about the sacrifices she’d made for Weiss had struck a deep chord with her.

Winter may have said she didn’t blame Weiss for anything, but it didn’t stop her from feeling guilty about it all. It had been distracting her from her work all morning, whether or not there had been a better way for her to have handled coming back.

Maybe it would have been better for them both if she hadn’t.

Weiss shook her head vigorously to clear it of that thought. Even after all the grief she’d inadvertently caused her sister, Weiss was fairly certain that Winter would never forgive her for thinking such things. Come to think of it, none of her new friends would agree with that sentiment.

It was a strange thing, having people who cared about her and her wellbeing. When she’d been alive, the closest she’d had to someone who cared about her was Klein, and it was his job to care. Father had been absent at best and coldly disapproving at worst, whilst Mother had just been absent. Winter herself had admitted to a certain coldness to Weiss when she was living, and the less said about Whitley, the better.

It felt… good that people were concerned about her and considered her a friend. It certainly made her unlife far more pleasant than her life had been.

“Weiss?” A knock and call at the door jolted Weiss out of her head, and she floated upright and over to the door.

“It’s open.” She said, not really feeling like recorporealising right now. After a moment, the door opened and Ruby stepped in, closing the door behind her.

“Hey, wow, it is cold in here.” Ruby commented, shivering a little as she rubbed her arms.

“Sorry, I keep the radiator off. I’m not exactly good with heat.” Weiss apologised, but Ruby shook her head.

“Your room, you do what you like. Probably helps keep the bills down too.” Ruby waved off the apology as she took in the rest of the room. “Oh, who’s this?” She leaned down to look at Weiss’ bed and the polar bear who took pride of place.

“That’s Snuffles.” Weiss said, feeling a touch embarrassed about the stuffed bear. “I’ve had him for a long time.”

“He’s cute!” Ruby chirped reaching out and petting him on the head. “He reminds me a little of Zwei, he’s my dad’s dog.”

“Okay?” Weiss wasn’t quite sure how her polar bear plushie resembled a dog but she took in stride. “Um, did you want to talk to me about something?

“Oh, right.” Ruby refocused and scuffed her socked foot against the carpet. “I, uh, I wanted to apologise.”

“For what?” Weiss blinked in confusion, cocking her head.

“I kinda wanted to do it since I talked to Yang, but I couldn’t quite find the words.” Ruby said, hanging her head a little. “I guess seeing you and your sister today helped me get it together in my mind.”

“Okay..?” Weiss was still a little confused. Ruby still hadn’t really explained what she was apologising for.

“I’msososorryIwassomeantoyouthelastfewweeks.” Ruby blurted out, her words garbled and made almost unintelligible by her shame. “Wellnotexactlymeanbutcoldandunfriendlyand-.” 

“Ruby.” Weiss said firmly. “Take a breath, calm down and enunciate please.” The younger girl nodded rapidly, breathing in and out fast enough that Wess was pretty sure it counted as hyperventilating. “Slower, Ruby, like this.” Weiss tried to breathe in, but then remembered that she couldn’t, and briefly wondered if not breathing would ever become second nature to her.

It did seem to do the trick, however, as Ruby’s breaths became more measured, and after a few moments, she started talking again at a much more normal pace. “I’m sorry I was cold and unpleasant towards you the last couple of weeks.”

“Oh, um…” Weiss wasn’t sure how to respond to this. Being genuinely apologised to was still a rather novel thing to her. “Thanks?”

“Why are you thanking me?” Ruby seemed rather perplexed by Weiss’ response.

“That’s what you do when someone apologises to you, right? Or is it that you say it’s alright?” Weiss was increasingly confused by this interaction. She didn’t have much to go on for it.

“But it’s not alright.” Ruby insisted stubbornly. “I was mean to you for no reason.”

“I highly doubt you were cold to me for no reason.” Folding her arms, Weiss gave Ruby an expectant look. “So why were you?”

“I…” Ruby fidgeted awkwardly under Weiss’ chilly gaze before spitting it out. “I was jealous.”

“Jealous? Of me?” Weiss was rather taken aback by this admission. “But I’m nothing special.”

“I knoooooow.” Ruby whined before sighing deeply and dropping heavily onto the bed. “But feelings are like that, ya know? And it’s a lot to unpack and understand too.”

“If you want to talk about it, I’ll listen.” Weiss floated over to hover near Ruby who sighed again and absently reached out to stroke Snuffles’ fur.

“I guess I should start somewhere close to the beginning.” She hummed in thought for a moment before continuing to speak. “Yang and I used to be close, like, super mega close.”

Weiss nodded, having seen the relationship between Ruby and Yang. When you knew that your sister waxed downstairs, close barely began to describe it.

“Right, well we kinda drifted apart over the last couple of years.” Ruby frowned a little and petted Snuffles harder. “It wasn’t exactly unexpected, she was here whilst I was at home. Yang made all her friends in the Black Masquerade, I was stuck without my sister.”

“You were jealous of me because Yang and I started dating?” Weiss was confused by this. Ruby had pushed her a little into dating Yang and had never once shown any kind of disapproval.

“No, you and Yang are good for one another.” Ruby shook her head. “It was nothing you did. But I was really looking forward to coming here, getting to be close with my sister again. But instead she started ignoring me in favour of you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have realised.”

“I just said it wasn’t something you did.” Ruby pouted a little. “Really, I should have said something to Yang sooner, but then there was the whole thing with the Masquerade as well.”

“What thing?” Weiss was finding it a little hard to keep up with Ruby’s train of thought.

“I was really looking forward to joining and becoming an official member. I’ve been the hanger-on for a couple of years now and I really wanted to be a part of this community. But when it was supposed to be my induction, you showed up.”

Oh. Now Weiss understood why Ruby had seemed so standoffish during that meeting. A lot of things were starting to fall into place for her, and a dark feeling of guilt swelled inside of her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take your spotlight or anything.”

“I know you didn’t, but it happened. Same with Penny. It felt like I was constantly getting pushed to the side in favour of you, and it was way easier to blame you than actually tell the people that were doing it.” Letting out a loud groan, Ruby buried her face in her hands.

“It’s okay, I’m not mad or anything.” Weiss tried to reassure Ruby, but she kept her face firmly crushed up against her hands.

“You’re too nice.” Ruby’s voice was muffled and almost inaudible. “I feel awful about this whole thing.”

“If you want, we can just put it behind us.” Weiss suggested, hoping this would help appease RuBy’s feelings of guilt.

“I guess…” Ruby sighed deeply, looking up from her hands at Weiss. “I am really, really sorry about how poorly I treated you though.”

“I know. I forgive you.” Weiss repeated, and Ruby tried to pull Weiss into a hug, only to pass right through her and flop onto the duvet.

“Crap! Sorry, forgot you’re not always there.” Ruby said as she picked herself up sheepishly.

“You’re not the only one. I forget sometimes too.” Weiss admitted, feeling a little embarrassed about the whole thing.

“What’s it like?” Ruby asked, sitting up properly and giving Weiss a curious look. “I mean, Penny’s told me a bit about how it feels being incorporeal all the time and some other ghost stuff, but I was wondering if it’s different for you.”

“It…” Weiss considered her words for a few moments. “It doesn’t feel like anything, really. The closest I could describe it is that it’s a bit like swimming, but when you swim, you can feel the water. With this, you just don’t feel anything. It could be windy and I won’t feel the breeze, that kind of thing.”

“But you can become corporeal, can’t you? Why not do that all the time?” Ruby gave Weiss a questioning look.

“Because it takes effort, I only make it look easy.” Weiss said with a shake of her head. “You weren’t there for the several months of practice it took for it to become almost second nature to me. Winter can attest to just how difficult it was.”

“Speaking of her, how is she?” Ruby asked and Weiss shrugged.

“Doing better, I think.” Weiss squirmed in mid-air as she floated around the room a little. “She’s still upset about everything that happened, but at least she talked about it with Robyn and Fiona.”

“That’s good. Penny and I were chatting with them whilst you were out looking for Winter. They seem pretty chill, though they were beating themselves up quite a bit over upsetting Winter like they did.” Ruby’s hands twisted uncomfortably in her lap. “I don’t want to sound harsh, but I’m not quite sure why Winter was so mad.”

“Robyn and Winter have been dating for a long time now, it was a betrayal of her trust.”

“I guess…” Ruby continued to fidget with her fingers. “But this sort of thing is important to us. We have to keep safe, so I understand them not telling an outsider.”

“I was an outsider, remember?” Weiss pointed out and there was another sting of guilt. “And they were going to tell her, but I got in the way.”

“What?”

“You remember how Robyn was talking about how they were going to tell Winter when she moved in with them?” Ruby nodded. “She didn’t because that was when I came back.”

“Oh…” Comprehension dawned in Ruby’s eyes, and her doubtful frown became sympathetic.

“It’s my fault that Winter and Robyn’s relationship is so strained.” Weiss shook her head sadly as the dark thoughts returned. “If I hadn’t come ba-.”

“Don’t you dare say that.” Ruby shot to her feet and glowered at Weiss. “Nobody is just better off dead.”

“Bu-.”

“No buts!” Ruby insisted, thrusting a finger in Weiss’ face. “You have no idea how happy you make Yang. She adores you, and to be frank, you probably deserved this second chance.”

“You can’t know that.” Weiss tried to protest, but Ruby shook her head and wagged her finger.

“I might not know anything about what happened to you, but you forget who I’m dating. I know a bit about ghosts and spirits.”

“You do?” Weiss was a little surprised by this, she’d been under the impression that the Masquerade were rather clueless when it came to her.

“Enough to know that people who die young and come back don’t do so because they had a happy and fulfilling life.” Ruby’s stern expression softened a little as she lowered her finger. “Penny didn’t, that’s for sure. She can’t remember very much of her life, only that it wasn’t happy and it ended violently.”

“I didn’t know...” Weiss supposed she was fortunate that she could still remember the vast majority of her life, except for her last moments, of course.

“She’s fine with it.” Ruby sighed, shaking her head. “But we’re not here to talk about Penny, we’re talking about you and how you need to stop thinking that things would be better off if you were still dead.”

“But Winter’s life would be much easier.” Weiss insisted and Ruby snorted.

“Maybe it would have been, but she also would have lost her sister without knowing what happened to her. It’s not like you’ve tried to make her life harder either, you were dealt a bad hand and you’ve done the best you can with it.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Weiss admitted a little reluctantly. She still couldn’t shake the feelings of guilt that she’d somehow ruined her sister’s life with her presence, but Ruby’s words had gone some way to alleviating that. “Thanks, Ruby.”

“No problem.” Ruby smiled a little. “Um, would you mind becoming corporeal so I can give you a hug?” Shrugging, Weiss closed her eyes to concentrate and dropped to the floor with a light thump. Within a few seconds, she was enveloped in a warm hug. It felt nice Weiss supposed, but nothing like the searing embraces she would share with Yang.

After a little while, Ruby pulled away, shaking herself out and rubbing at her arms. “Wow, you really are chilly. Hugging Penny feels absolutely nothing like that.”

“I have been told I’m rather cold.” Weiss smiled self-effacingly, stepping back feeling a little embarrassed about it.

“It’s not a bad thing.” Ruby reassured her, waving her hands frantically. “I should’ve expected it, really.” There was an awkward pause, then Ruby made her way over to the door. “I should probably leave you to whatever it is you were doing. I’ve taken up enough of your time.” Ruby opened the door and paused before leaving. “We’re cool, right?”

“Yes, we’re cool.” Weiss told her with a small smile, which Ruby returned before she left, closing the door behind her. Weiss’ shoulders slumped and she tried and failed to let out a deep sigh. That had not what she’d been expecting today on top of everything else.

Shaking her head, Weiss sat down on her bed and absently stroked Snuffles. It was nice that Ruby had apologised to her and explained what had been up with her. Weiss wasn’t sure what she’d expected from it, but it hadn’t been that.

Although, thinking of talks she needed to have, she remembered how she’d brushed off Yang wanting to talk about last night. She probably should, but she was finding it difficult to muster up the courage to do so.

Looking down at Snuffles, he looked as though he was giving her a very disapproving look, his beady eyes fixed on her. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked the toy, only to receive no response. “I know I should talk to her, but it’s hard. And what is there for me to say?” Still no reply.

“You’re right… I owe her more of an explanation.” Reluctantly, Weiss got to her feet and left the room to go talk to Yang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know it's been a while, but I haven't forgotten about his one, I promise. I have been having some issues with plotting out the next few bits so it might be a little while longer before the next one. In the meantime, it's good to see Ruby and Weiss talking things out a little.
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being super cute. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being just the best.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


	23. Chapter 23

“Yang, you got time to talk for a bit?” Weiss called out as she knocked gently on the door to the blonde’s room. There was a shuffling sound from the room before the door opened to reveal a slightly dishevelled-looking Yang.

“Hey, Weiss. What’s up?” She sounded exhausted, and Weiss hoped that it was just because of what had happened with Winter and not because of her.

“Can I come in? I’d rather not talk about this in public.” Yang nodded and moved aside, letting Weiss enter the stiflingly hot room. She closed the door behind her and walked over to her bed, sitting down on it, and Weiss felt a small twinge of embarrassment as she returned to the scene of last night’s crimes.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Yang asked, fiddling with her duvet.

“I wanted to talk to you about last night, like you wanted to earlier.” Weiss stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, unsure if she should stay standing or sit down as well.

“Not sure what there is to talk about.” Yang shrugged, unhappiness radiating from her. “You made that pretty clear when you decided not to talk to me earlier.”

“I was still trying to process everything that happened with Winter.” Weiss defended herself, frowning at Yang. “And I’m here now, of my own volition, because we do need to talk.”

“I guess…” Yang still looked rather unhappy, and Weiss was now determined to get to the bottom of why.

“Yang, what’s wrong? I thought you wanted to talk?” She asked, wanting to step forward to comfort her girlfriend.

“I did, but then you just brushed me off.” Yang frowned up at Weiss. Under other circumstances, Weiss would have apologised for this, but she felt perfectly justified here.

“I just said I was busy processing what happened with Winter.”

“I know, but it still hurt, and it made me feel like I wasn’t important enough to you. Especially when last night was so entangled with your issues with Winter.” Yang crossed her arms and looked away.

“I’m sorry…” Weiss sighed, or at least tried to, and shook her head. “It’s been a long day and I want to do right by you, and talking earlier wouldn’t have helped.”

“I guess.” Yang shrugged, now fixing her gaze on her lap. “So what did you want to say?”

“I… I don’t actually know.” Weiss admittedly sheepishly. “I probably should have thought about it a bit more, huh?”

“Yes, you probably should have.” Yang sighed, rubbing at her forehead in exhaustion. “Let me get this straight, you came here to talk about last night, knowing that there were things we needed to talk about, but you don’t know what to say?”

“When you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous.” Weiss said, embarrassment and shame boiling in her chest. “I know I fucked up last night.”

“Yeah, you kinda did.” Weiss flinched at Yang’s tone, which the blonde noticed and softened it a little bit. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to.”

“I didn’t.” Weiss shifted uncomfortably, the heat of the room wasn’t helping her thought processes, but she wasn’t about to ask Yang to turn off the heaters, she was supposed to be showing contrition. “And I really did want to… do that with you.”

“You can just say it, you know.” Yang shook her head in something that approached amusement.

Twisting her neck nervously, Weiss spoke quietly. “I really did want to have sex with you, Yang. I still do.”

“Do you though?” Yang asked softly, looking back up at Weiss. “When you told me this morning that you used me, do you know how that felt for me?” Weiss shook her head mutely. “It felt shit. The best night I think I’ve ever had, and it turns out it’s not because you really wanted me, you just wanted a warm body.”

Weiss didn’t answer, hanging her head in shame. She really hadn’t thought of how her actions would affect Yang, she’d been so caught up in herself and her own hurt feelings. Eventually, though, she broke the silence.

“I’m sorry, Yang. It was wrong for me to use you like that.” She mumbled, twisting her hands uneasily in front of her. “If you want to break things off, I understand.”

“I never said that now, did I?” Yang said sharply, now glaring at Weiss. “I’m not the sort of person who just gives up on something just because of one misstep.”

“It’s not the first one though. Us just getting together was a mess.” Weiss argued, though she wasn’t sure why she was arguing so strongly for them to break up.

“And I didn’t just give up then either.” Yang pointed out before frowning. “Okay, so I did stop pursuing you for a little while, but that doesn’t matter right now.”

“So what do we do, then?”

“We can start by talking about exactly what made you feel that you needed to have sex with me?” Yang folded her arms and waited as Weiss tried to verbalise the mess of feeling from last night. “You can sit down too, this feels kinda awkward with you standing over me.”

Nodding, Weiss grabbed the chair by Yang’s desk, doing her best to ignore the blast of hot air from the heater that sat right next to it as she pulled it over and sat down before talking. “I guess the trigger was just seeing Robyn and Fiona there at the club.”

“I assumed as much, but I don’t get why that made you think sex was the solution.”

“I-I just wanted to feel close to someone.” Weiss admitted, if she could have, she’d probably have been blushing furiously at this point. “I thought my sister had been lying to me about, well, everything. I felt like I was alone, and being with you made me feel connected to someone.”

“I think I get it now.” Yang nodded a thoughtful frown on her face. “Was that it, then?”

“No, it wasn’t just that.” Weiss twisted her hands in her lap. “I’ve been feeling insecure about us recently.”

“What? But why?” Yang tilted her head in confusion and surprise. “And why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want to sound like I was being petty and jealous.” Humiliation joined the shame that was bubbling away in Weiss’ chest, and she was certain the only reason she hadn’t frozen the room with her powers was because she was too busy keeping herself together with all the heaters running in the room.

“Jealous of whom?” Yang sounded rather concerned now but Weiss shook her head, unwilling to admit to this insecurity. “Weiss, please tell me. Was it Neo?”

“Not just Neo.” Weiss said glumly. If Yang had deduced that much, she might as well confess to them all. “Blake, Pyrrha, Jaune, all of them.”

“Oh…” Yang looked rather uncomfortable now, though Weiss wasn’t sure why.

“Saying I’m jealous of them isn’t strictly correct.” Weiss added, which caught Yang’s attention, and she looked to her with a raised eyebrow. “I feel… inadequate compared to them.”

“But you’re not.” Yang sounded genuinely baffled by this as Weiss hung her head again.

“You’ve had all these previous partners, but you’re my first. I have no experience, and on top of that, they were all, well, alive and able to touch you properly.” Digging her hands into her skirt, still a weird sensation since it was a part of her, Weiss waited for Yang to tell her off or something to that effect.

“I’m sorry, Weiss.” Blinking in surprise, Weiss looked up and into Yang’s sympathetic eyes. “I wish you’d told me this sooner.”

“It didn’t matter, I’m just being silly.” Weiss deflected, unused to and slightly uncomfortable with the turn this conversation had taken,

“No, you’re not, Weiss.” Yang chided gently. “Your feelings are important, and I’m sorry I didn’t make you feel comfortable enough to talk about them.”

“Stop it!” Weiss suddenly burst out, unable to take this turn around. “I’m supposed to be apologising, I’m the one who fucked up!”

“Which you already apologised for.” Yang told her girlfriend soothingly. “And now we’re talking about what we need to do to stop something like that from happening again.”

“But-but.” Weiss stuttered, casting around for a reason for Yang to continue blaming her.

“No buts, Weiss.” Yang’s voice was calm but firm. “You aren’t being silly, so please tell me how you’ve been feeling.”

“I…” Weiss shrugged helplessly, struggling for words. “I’m not good enough for you physically. You’ve had all these past relationships and partners, and I just can’t do that for you.”

Yang didn’t reply for a few seconds, then she gave Weiss a disbelieving look. “Weiss, you’re more than good enough, last night was one of the most intense experiences I’ve ever had.” Weiss was disinclined to believe Yang, but she spoke so earnestly. “And sex isn’t the be all and end all of our relationship. If you didn’t want to have sex at all, I’d be more than fine with that. I’m not dating you for sex.”

“I know, but isn’t sex an important part of relationships to you?”

“I guess it kind of is.” Yang’s mouth twisted into a frown. “I never really thought about it before. It just sort of happened”

“Exactly, and I can’t do that for you.” Weiss murmured sadly, looking down and scuffing her feet against the floor. “We can barely touch, how can we have sex like that and I don’t even know if I can do… that.” Weiss’ hands fisted in her skirt as Yang’s head tilted in confusion.

“Do what?”

“You know… that.” Weiss made a crude hand gesture in the absence of being able to fully articulate what she was talking about.

“Ohhhhh.” Yang’s confused expression immediately shifted into a sheepish smile. “I understand now.”

“I don’t have physiological responses anymore.” Weiss continued to explain, leaving out what had happened last night, unwilling to get Yang’s hopes up. “And even if I did, I don’t know if I want to do things like that.”

“That’s okay, Weiss.” Yang reassured her, reaching out to take her hand, but stopping just before she made contact. “We don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“But I’m supposed to.” Weiss insisted stubbornly. “I’m supposed to be your girlfriend, supposed to be able to do things like that for you.”

“Weiss, you keep saying what you think you’re supposed to do and…” Yang paused for a moment, her brows furrowed. “Wait, did you just say you’re supposed to do things that you’re uncomfortable with?”

“I mean, kind of?” Weiss shrugged, really not liking where things were going. “Relationships are about compromise, so that means you have to do things that you’re not exactly comfortable with.”

“Weiss, that’s really not how things are supposed to go, like, at all.” Yang gave Weiss a very concerned look. “Have you been doing things with me that make you uncomfortable?”

“No! But I figured it’s inevitable, especially since you’re already compromising by being with a girl you can’t touch properly.” Weiss mumbled, now seriously considering decorporealising and slipping through the floor to escape the conversation.

“That’s not a compromise, Weiss.” Yang sighed and started to rub her temple with her hand. “I…” She paused and looked up at Weiss. “I’m not sure really what to say right now, but I’m not sure what we have right now is healthy if you’re thinking this way.”

“W-What?” Was Yang about to do what Weiss thought she was going to do? “Are you breaking up with me?”

“No!” Yang waved her hands wildly, a look of panic in her eyes. “Definitely not.”

“Then what are you doing?” Weiss asked, only a little relieved by Yang’s reassurance.

“I think we should slow things down a little.” Yang said, a small frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. “We’ve only been dating for a couple of weeks and we already jumped into having sex, and I don’t think we were ready for that step. I certainly wasn’t, not with how it happened.”

“Oh…” Weiss looked away guiltily. Doing that with Yang had been her idea, therefore, obviously, she was the one who had fucked up. It was her fault they were having to change things and slow down.

“And now, with this whole thing about compromises and ‘supposed to do’, Weiss, I don’t want this to end up going really badly.” Yang sighed, shaking her head. “We haven’t even been out on a proper date just by ourselves, and thinking about it, I barely know anything about you.”

Weiss was beginning to understand where Yang was coming from with this, and she nodded slowly. “So we take it slower?”

“I think so.” Yang said, a small note of relief in her voice as Weiss agreed with her. “I really like you, and I want this to work between us.”

“Okay, we can do that.” Weiss wouldn’t say she was over the moon about this, but at least she and Yang weren’t breaking up. Hesitating for a moment, Weiss wasn’t sure what to do now that the conversation had come to something of a conclusion. “I should probably go, I’m expecting a call from Winter…” She said awkwardly and Yang nodded.

“Yeah, I’d hate to keep you from her right now.” Yang agreed, getting to her feet and after a moment’s hesitation, pulled Weiss into a searing hug. “We’re going to be okay, it’s just a little rough patch.”

“Sure.” Weiss hummed, enjoying the fiery embrace for a moment before pulling away and walking over to the door. Just as she was about to leave, Yang suddenly spoke up.

“Oh, since we got… distracted last night before we could see him, do you still want to talk to uncle Qrow?” Yang asked, and Weiss paused to think for a moment.

“Could we maybe go when it’s not a club night or something?” She asked and Yang nodded.

“We can do that, I’ll just have to give him a call to see when he’s free.”

“Sounds good.” Weiss nodded, opening the door and leaving the room. “See you at dinner?”

“Of course.” Yang grinned easily as Weiss headed back for her room, decorporealising as she went and floating through the door. Once she was out of sight, Weiss let her shoulders slump and she looked down at Mr Snuffles.

“Well, it didn’t go as badly as it could have gone.” She admitted to the unresponsive bear. Weiss floated around the room for a little while, turning the conversation over in her head a few times before turning back to Mr Snuffles. “Am I wrong for thinking relationships are about compromise?”

There was no response from him, so Weiss kept talking. “I mean, all interpersonal communications are about compromise, right? Party A wants something and Party B wants something a little different, so they compromise.” Mr Snuffles gave no indication of understanding Weiss’ explanation, so she continued.

“It’s like a merger.” Surely he’d understand it if she put it in these terms. “Two parties want to make a deal. In this scenario, the deal is a relationship, and that comes with both sides having to make a few concessions on things and-.” Weiss paused. Was she seriously trying to explain to her stuffed toy how relationships worked by using business transactions as a metaphor?

“Was Yang right?” She asked Mr Snuffles. “Am I looking at relationships all wrong?” Mr Snuffles’ silence was very telling. “Then how do you suggest I find out about how they’re actually supposed to work?” Mr Snuffles didn’t answer and Weiss rolled her eyes. “Fine, be like that, then.”

Pouting, Weiss floated away from her bed as she tried to think of what she should do about this. As she cast her eyes around her room, they settled upon her phone and she realised exactly what she should do.

Dropping to the floor with a small thump, Weiss grabbed her phone and opened up the contacts scrolling down the slightly longer but still rather short list to her sister’s details, and she hit call. The phone rang for a few seconds before it was picked up.

“Weiss?”

“Hi, Winter. I know you said you were going to call this evening, and this isn’t me not trusting you about that, but I have something important that I needed to ask you.” Weiss rushed out, taking advantage of not needing to breathe to get out everything she wanted to say in one go.

“Um, okay.” Winter sounded a little nonplussed as she processed Weiss’ run on sentence. “What did you need to ask me about?”

“Are relationships about compromise?” Weiss asked, nervously tapping her fingers on her desk. “I was talking to Yang earlier and she didn’t seem to think so, but I thought relationships were supposed to be about give and take, like a transaction.”

“Weiss, you do remember that I only just found out today that my girlfriend has been lying to me about the existence of the paranormal for the last few years, right? I don’t think I’m the best source for relationship advice.”

“I know, but you’re the only person I can really ask who has any sort of experience with relationships.” Weiss explained. “I suppose I could ask Ruby, but that would be kind of awkward since I’m dating her sister, and Blake’s out for pretty much the same reason since she and Yang are exes.”

“I see…” Winter sighed and Weiss could imagine her running her hand through her hair. “Well, I don;t think you’re exactly wrong about relationships having some degree of give and take, but framing it as though it’s some kind of business transaction definitely isn’t the way to go about things.”

“But why not? Those make sense.” Weiss pouted even though her sister couldn’t see her.

“Well, relationships don’t always make sense.” Weiss could pretty much hear her sister shrugging. “And as for that whole thing about compromise, I don’t think it’s very healthy for you to just think of your relationship as a series of compromises, of having to do things you don’t want to. Ideally, you’d want cooperation with your partner. That way, instead of both of you getting only half of what you want, you both get all of it.”

“Okay?” Weiss wasn’t quite sure she fully understood what Winter was talking about. “But what if you can’t cooperate or whatever?”

“Then the relationship probably won’t work out.” Winter said simply. “Do you understand what I mean?”

“I think so?” Weiss thought she did and that was probably enough for now. “Thanks, Winter.”

“No problem, Weiss.”

“So… how are things with you and Robyn?”

“They’re fine, we’ve talked some stuff out. A lot of stuff, actually.” Winter sighed softly and Weiss heard some shifting in the background. “I went and looked up some relationship stuff on the internet. ‘What to do when your lover lies to you’ that sort of thing.”

“Did it help?”

“Not really.” Winter sighed deeply again. “But we’re getting there, or I hope we will. It’s been less than a day and there’s a lot for us to move past.”

“I understand.” Weiss sat down in her desk chair. “I think you also said you’d tell me why you stopped calling me.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Winter hummed for a moment. “When you told me about your friends all being like you and that you were dating one of them, I felt pushed aside.”

“What?”

“You suddenly had all these people who were far more helpful to you than I ever could be, and honestly, I was glad.” Winter admitted.

“Oh…”

“And I was wrong to just break off contact with you like that. I’m sorry, Weiss. Even if you have all these new friends who can help you with your new existence, I will always be your sister and I will always be here for you.”

“Thank you, Winter.” Weiss’ mood was buoyed a little and she leaned back in her chair. “For everything. I don’t say it enough.”

“I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.” Winter assured her, and after everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours, Weiss finally felt a lot better. “I love you, Weiss.”

“Love you too, Winter.” Weiss smiled into the phone. “So, do you want to hear about how my lectures have been?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I haven't forgotten about this fic! I just may have bitten off more than I can chew with the number of ongoings I have to keep a particularly consistent release schedule for some of them. In the meantime, Weiss and Yang finally have that talk they needed to have and it went a lot better than I thought it would, so that's nice. Weiss really does need to spend some time evaluating how her relationships work.
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


End file.
